A car crash victim who lost her one-year-old daughter in the accident has died after spending 33 years in a coma.
Luigina Brustolin, 60, passed away in hospital on Friday (7 Feb).
She was 27 when she and her daughter Sara were involved in a violent car crash on 23 May 1992.
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An ambulance took Luigina from the scene in Pederobba, near Venice, Italy, to a hospital in Feltre.
From there, she was airlifted to a hospital in Treviso.
Sara was taken to the same hospital after a passing driver took her to a local emergency centre.
Her heart stopped beating in the ICU on 29 June 1992.
Luigina, meanwhile, had fallen into a coma from a severe head injury.
She was eventually discharged and lived at home for 17 years, cared for mainly by her mother, Maria.
She was then transferred to a care centre in Pederobba.
On 1 February – the day she turned 60 – she was taken to a hospital in Treviso, where she later passed away.
Luigina had worked at a shoe factory in Colbertaldo.
She had been married for a few years when the accident happened as she was driving home.
Her VW Golf collided with a Nissan Primera driven by a 46-year-old man.
Her husband, Franco Reghin, was 26 at the time, as reported by Need To Know.
He told local media: “That morning, I lost everything, and my life changed completely.
“I stayed by Sara’s side for a month. I slept in a room in the ICU, and whenever I was allowed, I would visit her.
“From the very beginning, though, I was told she wouldn’t make it.
“Sara was aware of everything. I remember her big tears and mine, too.
“She would have turned two on 16 July, but instead, her funeral took place on that day.”
Franco went on to have two children, now aged 25 and 23, with a new partner.
He said: “I rebuilt my life, and not everyone was happy about it. But I never abandoned Luigina.
“On Saturdays and Sundays, I would take her to my home. For my children, who were little, she was simply Aunt Luigina.
“The last time I visited her was a month ago.”
Luigina is survived by Franco, her sister Mara, her brother Loris, and her nieces and nephews.
Her funeral will be held in Colbertaldo on Wednesday (12 Feb).
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