Morganville, NJ, September 5, 2007: Executive Director Joseph Occhipinti is happy to announce the completion of a successful mission to visit the Vatican where an audience was held with Pope Benedict XVI. The purpose of the trip was to hand – deliver a motorized wheel chair for 8 year old Alessio Cirelli and to have it blessed by the Pontiff. During the audience with His Holiness it was learned that the Pope’s father was a police Sergeant in Germany. He took particular interest in the case of Alessio who suffers from a rare disease known as “Kasa Back Merritt Disease,” a condition that has damaged the left and right area of the child‘s brain and has left him paralyzed since birth. The boy’s father, Chief Inspector Sergio Cirelli of the Italian State Police, is a member of the National Police Defense Foundation who is currently assigned to the Italian Embassy in New York City. Italian medicine could not help Alessio, so his father sought the assistance of the NPDF though their Operation Kids program which provides life saving medical treatment to children of law enforcement officers and others in need, throughout the world.
Operation Kids recently established a medical fund for 8 year old Alessio Cirelli, the son of Sergio Cirelli who is the “Chief Investigator” for the “Polizia DiStato” (State Police) who is assigned to the Italian Consulate at New York City. Little Alessio is suffering from a rare disease called, Kasa Back Merrit” that has caused serious injury to his brain. This disorder causes convulsions, lack of balance and respiratory distress due to the lack of oxygen. As a result, he must undergo specialized craniofacial therapy that is only available in the US. We commend the “Italian Police” for their humanitarian concern by assigning his father to New York so the child can under go life saving medical treatment. Please pledge your tax-deductible donation for such a courageous child.
