Alessandro Di Battista returns to Italy after the operation in Cuba

The plane with Alessandro Di Battista on board landed a few minutes ago at Ciampino airport. It left Cuba last night and made its last stop in Luxembourg before arriving in Rome. The former five-star parliamentarian was on the Caribbean island for a reportage when he suffered severe head pain which forced him to undergo an initial medical check-up at the Santa Clara hospital, the hospital closest to where he was, before being transferred - given the seriousness of his conditions - to the most equipped facility in Havana, Hermanos Ameijeiras, where he underwent an emergency operation last week.

The safety protocol for the return

The return involved a safety protocol imposed by his health conditions: low altitude flight - to avoid excessive pressurization of the cockpit - and one or more stopovers. Upon his arrival it is likely that Di Battista will be directly transferred to the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic. A team from the Roman hospital - a neurosurgeon and a resuscitator - had joined him in Cuba to provide medical assistance.

In-depth analysis

How medical flights take place and why they travel at low altitude

Now off to the rehabilitation and convalescence process

In these two long weeks, there have been many testimonies of affection and closeness towards Di Battista, who immediately had his partner Sahra at his side (with whom he has two children) and his friend and president of the Schierarsi association, Luca Di Giuseppe, who also 'looked after' the communication aspect. A delicate task, this, caught between the great media exposure of the former 5 star and the request for discretion made by the family. However, that something was moving in the right direction, with the imminence of his return to Italy, it was understood in the last few hours with the post published by Schierarsi which had all the flavor of a farewell to Cuba: "We would like to thank the doctors, nurses and physiotherapists who are taking care of him in these hours before returning to Italy", he wrote on Facebook. Now the beginning of a second phase of treatment, rehabilitation and convalescence, which began with Luca Di Giuseppe's own wish: "Happy return, my brother. See you in Rome in a few hours".