A 28-year-old student has tragically died just a day after achieving his lifelong dream of graduating from university.
Nicola Matteo refused to give up on his studies despite battling cancer and enduring gruelling treatments.
When his condition deteriorated, his family made a special plea to his university and asked if his sister, Matilde, could defend his thesis for him.
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The Sapienza University of Rome agreed, allowing Matilde to present Nicola’s work – “From Linear Economy to Circular Economy: The VEGA Case” – via video link as her brother watched from his hospital bed.
His health was extremely fragile, but the moment she finished, Nicola was officially awarded a Master’s degree in Management of Technologies, Innovation, and Sustainability – a milestone he had fought so hard to reach.
Just hours later, on Monday morning (28 Oct), Nicola sadly passed away, as reported by Need To Know.
The brave student’s funeral will take place this afternoon (29 Oct) in his hometown of Ceppagna, in Italy’s Molise region, where his mother Carina, who runs a local business, and his father Nicandro, a police officer, will say their final goodbye.
Venafro’s mayor, Alfredo Ricci, paid tribute, saying: “Nicola was a beautiful soul who leaves an irreplaceable void.”
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