In 2015 he was struck by acute meningitis with meningococcal sepsis, which led to the loss of both legs (double amputation below the knee) and seven of his fingers.

Before this, he practised trekking, climbing and mountaineering. While in hospital, he harboured the conviction that one day he would return to these sports: “I developed a strong urge to run, an urge that had no logic and no reason, but that was purely instinctive, a personal challenge to fight “destiny”, to fight the bacteria that wanted to stop me”.

He began rehabilitation alone, in the midst of his native mountains. He returned to sports, beginning with athletics, climbing would come later. His sports career and his new life as an athlete began thanks to fund raising: “In November 2015, a huge number of people from all over Italy got together to help me make my dream of becoming a competitor come true. With their help, I was able to start training and become part of the Italian Athletic Paralympic team, breaking records, winning European medals and an international silver medal in London, as well as countless other important achievements! I made every possible effort, and with their contributions, each and every one of them gave me the chance to try”.

As well as his many past and future mountaineering enterprises, Andrea is also committed to passing on the positive energy that allowed him to become the person he is today, demonstrating to whoever meets him that in reality, limitations are not always what they seem.