A dad-of-five died in hospital after collapsing in front of his wife as he played five-a-side football.
Matteo Ferrecchia was enjoying a match with his pals as usual when he suddenly felt unwell.
Witnesses told how in the final minutes, he placed a hand on his stomach, began vomiting, then dropped to the ground.
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His pals called the emergency services and tried to revive him with a defibrillator as they waited for help to arrive.
Emergency medics arrived on the scene within 15 minutes and gave him CPR on Tuesday (12 Mar) evening.
Matteo, 43, was taken by air ambulance from the sports centre in Rovato, Italy, to hospital in critical condition.
Overnight, he had a cardiac arrest followed by a brain bleed, which proved fatal.
His devastated wife had to be taken to the emergency room after fainting as she watched the drama unfold on the pitch.
Matteo leaves behind three sons and two daughters, aged one to 12, whom he lived with in Tagliuno near Castelli Calepio.
He met his future wife Carmela Luongo on holiday when she was 16 and she was his first girlfriend.
He worked as a warehouse manager for a firm that makes gaskets and flexible tubes in Palazzolo sull’Oglio.
He had no pre-existing conditions.
Matteo will be laid to rest in Tagliuno tomorrow (14 Mar).
His boss Merilù Paparo said: “Everyone loved him.
“Not only was he an exceptional father, not only was he loyal and always smiling, but he was someone who brought sunshine to the workplace.
“He’d become a dear friend to many of us.”
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