A 43-year-old Moroccan street hawker
has become an Italian citizen after his special merits were
recognised by the government in saving a female hospital doctor
after she was attacked by a man in Calabria four years ago.
The street seller, Mustapha El Aoudi, was at his stall near the
hospital in Crotone when he heard a woman crying for help on
December 4, 2018.
The doctor, Maria Carmela Calindro, was on the floor while a
man, Luigi Amoruso, later convicted of attempted murder, was
attacking her with a screwdriver in a row over his treatment.
El Aoudi immediately left his stall and came to Calindro's aid,
disarming Amoruso.
He was later knighted by President Sergio Mattarella and on
Thursday evening Giorgia Meloni's cabinet recognized his special
merits and conferred citizenship on him.
"It was my dream to become Italian," said El Aoudi with tears in
his eyes, waving an Italian flag.
"This is my country, I've lived here since I was 10. And now my
dream has come true".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
