the 9-year-old girl who underwent surgery in Thailand is back in Italy –

Greta, a 9-year-old girl from Rome, has finally returned home thanks to a state health flight following an emergency operation in Phuket, Thailand. The drama began on Friday 15 March, when her little girl felt ill during a flight with her family headed to the renowned tourist destination. After landing, she was immediately admitted to a local hospital and subsequently urgently transferred to Bangkok Hospital in Phuket due to the severity and complexity of her case. Instrumental tests, including a CT scan, revealed the presence of a brain tumor mass, making an emergency operation necessary. Before the operation, the little girl’s medical records were shared with the neurosurgeons at San Raffaele in Milan for a consultation. The operation, which took place successfully on Thursday 21 March, marked an important step towards the young patient’s recovery.

After a period of ordinary hospitalization in the same hospital where she was operated on, Greta was transferred to Italy. Her condition requires a more complex operation, which will be performed at the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome where she was taken. The decision to bring the little girl back to Italy was facilitated by the “fit to fly”, the permit issued by Thai doctors which authorized air transport, but only on direct non-stop flights, in order to guarantee her well-being during the trip. Given the absence of direct flights from Thailand to Italy, it was necessary to organize an extraordinary state flight from Phuket to Ciampino (operated by the Air Force) to allow little Greta to return to her country of origin. This decision was made considering the exceptional gravity of the situation and the importance of guaranteeing continuous and specialized medical care for the young patient.

The repatriation operation was requested by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani, who in agreement with the Presidency of the Council, therefore favored the intervention of the Air Force with a dedicated flight necessary to guarantee the minor a transfer as short as possible and least invasive as possible. Since the beginning of this delicate matter, the Italian Embassy in Bangkok, in close coordination with the Unit for the Protection of Italians Abroad of the Farnesina, has provided all necessary assistance to the compatriot and her family members, keeping close contacts with relatives and with the Italian hospital, as well as raising awareness among local hospital authorities of the importance of the case and the need for rapid medical repatriation. “I am happy that the little girl can return home,” commented Tajani, “and I take this opportunity to send her my best wishes.”