Luca Falcon, 35-Year-Old from Verona, Dies in Angola: Founder of an Association Donating Prosthetics to African Children

He wrote on social media: "I will reach South Africa, or die trying." Luca Falcon was from Verona, was 35 years old, and died in Angola in a road accident. He was in Africa because of the volunteer association "Karma on the road" that he had founded himself. Luca had undergone the amputation of a leg after a road accident eight years ago and thought of those who, like him, found themselves overnight without a limb. In Africa, amputation becomes necessary for war wounds. A condition very different from his own but that did not prevent this young man from empathizing with these people so similar to him, especially with the children. So, Luca set up an association just four years ago and thought to help children, amputees like him. With his NGO, he donated orthopedic prostheses to the small victims of war. Luca Falcon, a 35-year-old from Verona, founder of an association that donates prostheses to African children amputated like him. His work will continue, it's safe to bet, given the enormous emotion his death has aroused and the condolences that are arriving for his wife Giulia Trabucco, co-founder of "Karma on the road," who announced the terrible news on social media and writes in a comment that what happened "makes no sense is just disgustingly unfair." Together they collected donations of used or decommissioned prostheses that were then reused to give a better life opportunity to amputees in third-world countries, especially children. The details of the accident are still unclear: Luca Falcon was crossing Africa on a motorcycle and - as it has been learned - was involved in a collision with a truck, being killed. Luca Falcon died at 35: smiling on a motorcycle with the prosthesis on the amputated leg. Traveling around Africa to help children like him. A cruel fate, because the young man from Verona had already been the victim of a very serious motorcycle accident in Verona in 2016, in which he lost a leg, but it was precisely from that tragic event that he found the strength to found the association to help people who had suffered the same consequences. "I will reach South Africa, or die trying," wrote his wife Giulia on Facebook quoting her husband, who on this journey had already crossed some African countries and was headed to Cape Town. The accident occurred on Sunday, the day after Falcon's thirty-fifth birthday, but confirmation only arrived last night. The family is in contact with the Italian Embassy in Angola for the repatriation of the body. Died the day after his birthday. "As a boy, I thought that by 35 I should have had money and success, always be in a shirt" The day before he died, Luca turned 35. He wrote on Facebook that it was a milestone that made him reflect. "As a boy, I thought that by the time I reached 35 I should have been accomplished, that I should have had a family, money, and the right success, maybe always be in a shirt... But what is success? I don't know... today I turn 35 and I am alone in the middle of Africa more than 15000km from home, on a mud-filled motorcycle and without a leg The young Luca would have definitely turned up his nose, but let's say it after the accident in 2016 I changed a lot... Today I am tremendously happy. I am happy because success is being free or at least being free to be oneself. I have people around me who love me for who I am and not for how they expect me to be. I have a wife who loves me and gives me my space and, even though we are really in love, we remain two individuals with distinct boundaries and that's fine! Do I miss her? Yes, a little bit I miss her, but think about how many things I will be able to tell her when I return! I am happy because I feel grown, not just aged. I am happy because at 35 I can still dream. I end with a quote: "A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams". (John Barrymore)". It is difficult not to read these words with a surge of emotion after knowing that Luca is no longer here. The president of the Chamber of Deputies Fontana: "A story of courage" "After a terrible road accident, he founded Karma on the Road, a reality that has recovered and donated hundreds of orthopedic prostheses especially to African children victims of war. The story of Luca Falcon, whose disappearance we mourn, is a story of courage, of a strong spirit that overcame difficulties by serving others and doing good. His disappearance deeply saddens us. We are close to his wife, all his family, and those who, over the years, have been his companions on the road."