Mattia Cossettini, nine, died because of a haemorrhage resulting from a cerebral aneurysm while he was visiting Marsa Alam, Egypt, with his family, an autopsy has determined
A nine-year-old boy who tragically died during a family holiday in Egypt didn’t have a brain tumour but suffered an aneurysm, an autopsy has revealed.
Mattia Cossettini, from the town of Tricesimo near Udine in Friuli Venezia Giulia, northern Italy, was visiting Marsa Alam with his younger brother and their parents when the tragedy unfolded on January 5. The family, who had travelled to Egypt on January 2 for a one-week break, were on a boat trip when Mattia suddenly collapsed.
After he regained consciousness, the child complained about a severe headache, so his parents took him to the medical staff at the resort where they were staying for the week. After being diagnosed with heatstroke, Mattia was placed on an IV drip.
He was given various medications and was later sent to his room. However, his condition worsened during the night as he began experiencing vomiting, headaches and seizures, so he was taken to A&E. He was pronounced dead in the early hours of January 6.
Days after Mattia’s death, Egyptian newspaper Ahram reported that the Red Sea Health Directorate said the child suffered from a pre-existing brain tumour – which his family wasn’t aware of – that was exacerbated by pneumonia, which ultimately led to complete cardiac arrest. However, an autopsy carried out in Italy has now determined that Mattia died because of a haemorrhage resulting from a cerebral aneurysm, according to Italian news agency Ansa.
The autopsy, requested by the boy’s parents, ruled out any pre-existing conditions and determined that Mattia couldn’t have survived the aneurysm whether he was abroad or at home. The family said in a statement, released through their lawyer Maria Virginia Maccari: “The presence of other concomitant pathologies is certainly excluded.”
The lawyer added that Mattia was “very happy” during the holiday and hadn’t shown “any symptoms, not even a cold” until the tragic boat excursion. She further revealed: “According to the parents, there was certainly an underestimation of the initial clinical picture; there was then a reporting error by the doctors at the government general hospital in Marsa Alam, who interpreted the CT without then intervening on Mattia due to the lack of equipment, who was only kept under observation while the doctors estimated the most varied pathologies, from diabetes to bronchopneumonia, even citing Covid as the cause of low oxygenation when in fact Mattia didn’t even have a cough.”
Little Mattia shared his dad Marco’s passion for firefighting and also loved the environment. Back in November, in an electoral appeal addressed to his peers while standing for the Youth Council, he said he wished his town was cleaner and that people respected the environment more, highlighting the need for “more garbage bins along the streets and sanitary bags for animals.”