He was found lying on the garage floor. Christmas Practiced, 55 years old, nurse on duty in the emergency room of the “Tiberio Evoli” hospital, was immobile and with a spot of blood at chest level. His brother-in-law found him. The alarm went off immediately afterwards, with a request for intervention at “118”. Once they arrived at the house on the outskirts of the town, in Melito Porto Salvo, the health personnel could not help but confirm the death. At that point the police from the local company entered the scene and started the investigation.
The news event occurred on Monday evening. According to what emerged, Natale Praticò was in the garage of his home. How much time he remained away and what could have happened is a double mystery. It will be up to the men of the Army to try to respond. From what the nurse could learn he was found with a gunshot wound to the chest. It appears to be a rifle shot which, it is not excluded, could have been fired by itself (the scene was kept away from prying eyes by the investigators and therefore there is no information as to whether or not a weapon was found).
There are still many dark sides of an episode that shook the town of Melita at dawn, where Natale Praticò lived and where he was known by many people. His jovial character that he displayed even when he was on duty was a distinctive trait of him, as was his courtesy in interacting with patients and the public.
Among amateur cyclists he was a point of reference. Group outings on the roads of the Grecanica area and in the inland villages were frequent. During the games his humor was contagious. He often ran with a bandana on his head and not even adverse weather conditions stopped his passion.
He also loved to look for mushrooms. Not infrequently the jokes he made on the mountains of the Aspromonte massif, which he knew like the back of his hand, ended with flattering harvests and complete with souvenir photos, to be posted on his social media page.
An apparently peaceful life. However, the drama continued through the night, throwing an entire family unit into despair at dawn. Already from the early hours of yesterday morning there was an outpouring of emotional messages. The news of what happened to his nurse friend quickly spread around the town and then spread across social media. Service colleagues or cycling friends expressed their disbelief at what happened.
«Today is a sad day, we lose a person, a serious and humble professional, a helpful person or as they say “a nice person”. Melito Porto Salvo and the surrounding towns mourn his passing. There are no words to describe you, the group – wrote the administrator of the Facebook page “We for you all together” – are united in the pain of their families. Dear Christmas, you will always be in the hearts of all of us, but above all we will remember you as “the cyclist nurse”. Hello, now speed with your bike and bandana through the streets of the sky.” Words of clarity on what happened are now expected from the investigators, whose work is proceeding at full speed.
