ROME - Massimiliano Galletti, an Italian volunteer emergency responder, tragically lost his life after being seriously injured by a grenade blast while providing aid in Ukraine. Galletti was struck by the explosive device in September while working on the frontlines, where he was engaged in humanitarian activities to assist civilians affected by the ongoing conflict.

 Despite receiving intensive medical care, Galletti was unable to recover from the injuries he sustained. He died after being in a coma for a month.

 On the news of his death, his wife Donatella Scarponi spoke of the dark days she had had not knowing her husband’s state: "There was 30 dark days in total. I didn’t know if my husband was live, where he was … he was not a soldier, he would not have even known how to use a gun.”

 Galletti’s daughter, Aurora, shared her similar emotions at her father’s tragic passing. In a letter addressed to her father she said “You were always my reference point … the person I knew I could always count on as a child, I dreamed in the future of having a husband like you who always treated me like a princess. You always found the right words to comfort me even when I didn't feel like hearing from you, you were there for me. In this moment that you are gone I need you more than ever, but I know you flew away as a hero, the hero who was always there for me and all the people you saved over the years. I am proud of you as a father, but most of all as a man you will always be in my heart.”

 The mayor of Galletti’s San Benedetto, Antonio Spazzafumo, has insisted that everything is being done to return the body back to Italy. Mayor Spazzafumo said that “Italy has done its part to return the body … but there are still issues in Ukraine that need to be resolved.”

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