Two months battling Covid: One Roma fan's story

Cadolini has been the president and founder of Roma Club Alitalia since 1983 and has been involved in various other fan groups bringing together Roma fans in the capital, throughout Italy and around the world.

Over the years he's organised dozens of Roma events and parties, one being 'The night of stats', an annual awards events when prizes are given out to the best Giallorossi players and coaches.

“Roma is one of the key components of my life and I missed it so much over the last two months,” he told us.

Giancarlo is one of the many Italians – around three and half million and counting – to have been infected by COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. He is over it now, but only after fighting a gruelling daily battle for the past two months.

He fought it alone, which is one of the worst things about this disease: it drains you physically and isolates you from your loved ones.

“I spent 60 days away from my family, my wife, my grandchildren. I was only able to hug them again a few days ago. It was a very emotional moment.”

Thankfully Giancarlo is better now.

What was it like?

“It was a life lesson. I've never had any particular diseases or illnesses before. I'm diabetic but I've managed it. One afternoon two months ago, it was a Sunday, I started feeling funny at home. I didn't have a temperature or a cough but I felt strange. I asked my wife to call the doctor. An ambulance came and took me to hospital, but I never imagined I'd spend so much time there. I never thought it was Covid.

“After about ten hours in the ambulance waiting to be admitted to hospital, I had a scan. It showed advanced-stage pneumonia and I had to go into intensive care.”

Which was the toughest moment?

“Every night that I spent stomach down, with an oxygen machine over my head stopping me from moving. You count down the minutes hoping for 6am to come quickly so they can take it off and you can start the day's therapy. Then there's seeing other people not make it. There are times when you're on your own and you fear the worst, but you have to find a way to pull through.

"The nurses helped me with their spirits. Being able to chat, even just virtually, with so many people via Facebook on my phone helped too. The messages and support I received was a massive boost.”

You've often reminded people to take all the necessary precautions to avoid getting infected.

“And I'll say it again now. The virus is real and terrible. No one is invincible. Wear a mask and keep your distance from others, even within the family because the virus can be passed between relatives too. That's what happened to me.”

What happened?

“My daughter is a nurse and she works in a retirement home. She got it and then the whole family got infected. About ten of us. But I was the only one to get it really bad.”

Looking at your posts, it seems you had plenty of time to think about Roma during your enforced isolation.

“How could I not? I really missed Roma – it's one of the loves of my life. Even more so when I was in hospital because I couldn't keep up to date. When I was transferred to a clinic to recover physically, with the help of my son, I was able to watch matches via video call on WhatsApp. That's the solution we came up with.”

What sort of fan would you describe yourself as?

“A fan like many others. I have lots of memories and stories about Roma. When I was 16 I contributed to the Colletta del Sistina [a fan whip-round to raise funds for the team's trip to Verona as the club didn't have the money]. Over the years I've made lots of friends and organised evenings and parties to celebrate the team's successes. It all started when I set up Roma Club Alitalia in 1983. That's quite a story...”

Tell us about it.

“I worked for Alitalia for many years, in the human resources office. Setting up a Roma Club was frowned upon, but I knew the general manager was a Roma fan. So one day I went along to his office with a plaque and said: 'I'll take full responsibility and I'll always be discreet and professional about it.' It didn't take me long to convince him.

"Another time we organised a party at Villa Miani, one of the most beautiful locations in Rome. Initially they quoted us a high price per head for dinner, but I convinced them to lower it by telling them people like Francesco Totti and Franco Sensi would be taking part.”

No-one has ever turned down an invitation to one of your parties, right?

“That's right. Dino Viola always came. So did president Sensi. We had a very honest, direct relationship. It was an understanding between two Romans. Once he asked me to work for him in the airport sector. I replied. 'I'm at Alitalia, in Serie A, I can't go down to Serie B...' It wasn't the only time I received an offer like that.”

Go on.

“After another very successful evening, 'The Night of Captains', when we had [Amadeo] Amadei, [Giacomo] Losi, [Egidio] Guarnacci, [Sergio] Santarini and others, a Roma official called me to Trigoria and asked me to work in the youth academy. He thought I had good organisational skills.

"I didn't accept that time either. That's the way I am. I've never asked for favours and I've always bought my own tickets to go to the stadium. At the age of 73, I think I can say I'm an honest person and that's why people showed me so much support over the last two months.”

Will you go back to the stadium when it's possible to do so?

“I can't wait. I hope it doesn't take took long. I've seen too much criticism of Roma lately, especially on Facebook, but I think everyone misses going to the stadium. I've raised two generations of Roma fans – not just my children. I have grandchildren in Paris. I've 'infected' loads of them. That's one virus that hurts nobody; quite the opposite. If you don't mind, I'd like to say one more thing.”

Sure.

“Live life with a smile. Forza Roma forever.”