A 33-year-old father-to-be died on a Ryanair flight over Italy after suffering a heart attack while his pregnant wife sat in another row of seats at the back of the plane.
Giuseppe Stilo received medical assistance from two trained passengers after falling ill on flight FR8780 from Turin to Lamezia Terme on Wednesday morning.
Despite their efforts, staff were forced to intervene with a defibrillator and began attempting to save the Ferrero employee from Filogaso as the plane diverted to Turin.
Medics rushed on board with adrenaline after the plane landed, 35 minutes after takeoff, but the man was quickly pronounced dead.
It was only upon his return to Turin that his wife Federica Marella, five months pregnant – who was seated separately in the back of the plane – learned of her husband’s death, according to Torino Today. She was then taken to the nearby Cirié hospital in shock.
Giuseppe Stilo with his wife Federica, hospitalized after the death of her husband
Future father Giuseppe Stilo suffered a heart attack while traveling through Italy yesterday.
Mr. Stilo, who was traveling with his four-month pregnant wife to their families in Calabria, began feeling ill after leaving Turin’s Caselle airport around 11 a.m. yesterday, LaStampa reported.
The plane’s pilot was notified and made the decision to return to the departure airport, turning around less than an hour after the scheduled flight time of 1 hour 45 minutes.
Two passengers trained as medics intervened to help Mr. Stilo, beginning resuscitation efforts with the cabin crew.
This included chest compressions and the use of the on-board defibrillator, according to local media.
Doctors were waiting nearby for the plane to land in Turin and arrived with adrenaline and another defibrillator, but pronounced the man dead after administering a third shock.
It took 36 minutes for the plane to make the detour and land in Turin, Corriere Torino reported.
Mr Stilo is said to have recently started a new job as an employee at the Ferrero factory in Alba.
He got married in June last year and lived in Vezza d’Alba with his wife, also from Vibo Valentina.
The father-to-be was reportedly an avid traveler who enjoyed discussing long walks with his wife and was an altar boy growing up.
Hours after the tragedy, it was revealed that rescue teams had suffered delays of more than ten minutes in accessing the airport gate.
Sagat, Azienda Zero and ASL To4 denied this information.
The flight was forced to return to Turin where a doctor and nurse boarded the plane.
Archive photo of a Ryanair plane. The flight crew intervened to help the man but were unable to save him.
ASL To4, the local health authority, said in a statement: “There were no delays in providing relief.
“The airport emergency medical staff were preparing on the runway to provide assistance and the 118 operational center, alerted of the situation, sent the basic ambulance from Borgaro Torinese, followed by the vehicle with doctor and nurse based in Venaria’.
“It should be noted that the first ambulance with volunteers was waiting at the boarding gate and took approximately 2 minutes to access the airport grounds,” the statement continued.
“Meanwhile, the patient had three doctors equipped with a defibrillator and adrenaline assisting him, while the 118 medical teams entered immediately.”
Giuseppe Stilo was also reported to be 34 and 35 years old in some Italian media.
MailOnline has contacted Ryanair for comment.
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