Ivan Cottini: "I do not want to live like a patient"

Made a pact with life Ivan Cottini six years ago, just when life collapsed before his eyes after this diagnosis. Multiple Sclerosis . A conviction for him, then 27 years old, model for well-known brands and a bright future awaited him, though for Ivan was transformed into his strength . The sentence had not yet arrived

Fame di vivere to continue to live despite the physical limitations that this neurodegenerative pathology slaps in his face day after day and with which he does not want not count or rather, he does them and he always wins. He wins when he puts away the wheelchair and dances, he wins when he trains every morning after medical treatment, he wins when with his testimony manages to give strength to many young people that he meets . Life wins the one that has reestablished, the one that was not enough for a diagnosis to stop …

Both Challenges and battles that see the protagonist and that a few days ago earned him the title of Cavaliere Emerito della Repubblica . All to break the walls that tear the disease inexorably.

A model of success, a bright future ahead of him, then an icy shower. Six years ago, you were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, in a moment the world collapsed on you.
"Yes, but in addition to me, he also collapsed on my family and loved ones. even the people around you and that makes me suffer more than anything else … I left and today I smile, my family members are still in the day of diagnosis For a parent, it is not necessary Is not easy to see a sick son.

In this terrible time, you lost your girlfriend and entered the tunnel of depression. Where did you find the strength to get up and go?
"I came from a long history, in the early stages, this girl was next to me." The first year was bad, the disease quickly worsened. My body At twenty, it is not easy to face such a thing, she did not want it anymore, she could stay. I do not know where I found strength One night, during a hospitalization in Milan, I organized a toga party with all the sick people of my department, underground chariot races in the corridors , all with sheets on him. The next day, I was called by the general manager who wanted to throw me out of the hospital from where I left, I went back on I started telling my story, j & rsquo; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; I was ready to resume my life, I decided to get up from evening to morning, I did not want to be sick at the age of 27 years old. "

And at the time, from the hospital bed, you wrote on Facebook:" Io da og I'll be like that and I'm ready to recover everything. "And you've got it You found a new love and you had a daughter, Viola, who is now two and a half years old.To become a father, you have suspended treatment against the advice of doctors, risking a sharp acceleration of the disease A brave choice …
"Today I am aware of having made a big bullshit, hanging all without saying anything to anyone, not even to my family members, I have all done by myself, but I managed to put my pregnant wife and have Viola for me today, that's all. "

For this choice, you have been struck by criticism …
" Yes, but the criticism that we expected for me and my partner. , which puts me right in front of reality.I can not do much to look after myself, with a girl is even more difficult.Piola puts me in front of the obvious disabilities that now I have, c & # 39; is the only one that really makes me sick helpless: a parent must first protect, because I had to review my drug plan and I also had to take some risks.

"Today, I'm rather happy, emotionally, I'm fine, I still hope my parents will come back to smile with me, they can not understand my choices … I recently went to Lecce for a Dance race, I came back with broken ribs I go down from the chair to dance, at that moment I do not even feel the pain, but obviously I feel it physically. "