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    Man ‘rips out own eyes’ in Italian church

    By Adam Parris-Long | Yahoo! News – Mon, Oct 3, 2011

    A man stunned churchgoers by tearing out his own eyes at a mass service in Viareggio, northern Italy, on Sunday.

    Aldo Bianchini, 46, was believed to have been suffering from mental health problems. Surgeons were unable to save his sight after he was taken to a local hospital from the Sant’Andrea church.

    UK-born Bianchini has lived in Italy for many years, he reportedly told surgeons that he “heard voices” telling him to gouge his eyes.

    Dr Gino Barbacci, who attempted to repair the damage, said Bianchini had “super-human” strength to pull out his own eyes. Many of the congregation fled in fear after the incident.

    “In all my 26 years of service I have never seen anything like this before. He did not complain and seemed to feel no pain even though it was a mask of blood,” Dr Barbacci said.

    “We tried to operate and save his sight by reinserting the eye balls in both sockets but there was nothing we could do and he will now remain blind,” he added.

    “I’ve never seen so much blood as today [Sunday],” said the church’s priest, Father Tanganelli. “I called for assistance and the paramedics were at the scene. We were lucky that one of the closest people to him was an off-duty paramedic.” 

    Bianchini, an unemployed chemistry graduate, had previously been given treatment by a psychiatrist, reported Italian newspaper Bresciaoggi.  

     

    166 comments

    • barrie
      barrie  •  7 months ago
      needs help !!!!!
      • concerned
        concerned 7 months ago
        needs a white stick
      • Ich
        Ich 7 months ago
        Needs Help? So do quite a lot of people on here!
      • C
        C 7 months ago
        wow talk about stating the obvious ! lol
    • Terry rhubarb
      Terry rhubarb  •  7 months ago
      Not sure I get the funny side to the comments on here.A man took his own eyes out .If he is at risk to himself or others he required help.A tragic story.
    • mkat
      mkat  •  7 months ago
      How unimagineably sad that a person with such mental health problems got to this stage without any intervention of any kind. I had a school friend with severe mental health issues who thankfully got help at the right time and is now on the long road to recovery. I feel sorry too for the poor man's family who must be going through a nightmare right now. I can only send good thoughts and wishes and hope that he will one day recover from this horrific incident.
      • The Frowning
        The Frowning 7 months ago
        .....i very much doubt that he will recover - he is now totally blind for the rest of his life
      • ccm
        ccm 7 months ago
        Well said Mkat yes lets hope he recovers but sadly his sight will be gone forever.
    • Aardvark
      Aardvark  •  7 months ago
      Poor bloke!

      How tormented he must have been to do that. Mental illness can be such a nightmare.
    • highland girl
      highland girl  •  7 months ago
      he needs a good doctor and plenty of treatment poor man he must be a very tormented soul What an awful thing to do to yourself!!
    • Steve
      Steve  •  7 months ago
      When asked why he did it, he said "No eye, dear"
    • A Yahoo! User  •  7 months ago
      How sad that his mental state led him to do this. Its all very well to judge him but his mind was not mentally sane, if so he would not have done it. He has now lost his sight. Shame he could not have received help before it got to that stage.
    • Twenty Eight, Simple as.
      Twenty Eight, Simple as.  •  7 months ago
      Poor guy.. I hope he receives help for everything.
    • minotaur
      minotaur  •  7 months ago
      how did he manage to take out his eyes??? so sad that he lost his sight now :(
      • .
        . 7 months ago
        With fingers I'd imagine but do you really need to know the gory specifics? Some things are best UNleft to the imagination...
    • uche uraih
      uche uraih  •  7 months ago
      This is sad
    • L_F_C
      L_F_C  •  7 months ago
      well said welshman.....!!!!!!
    • Lizzie
      Lizzie  •  7 months ago
      Ouch!!!
    • Sarah
      Sarah  •  7 months ago
      POOR MAN, SUFFERING SOME KIND OF MADNESS; PITY HE COULDN'T HAVE HAD SOME HELP BEFORE THIS HAPPENED. Lots of suffering in this world of all kinds.
    • Pieter
      Pieter  •  7 months ago
      I dont know if this applies to italy, but most government do their utmost to avoid giving proper care to the mentally ill: their dereliction of duty carefully hidden under a cloak of politically-correct slogans and policies...and then this kind of thing happens.
      • .
        . 7 months ago
        The UK springs to mind; however they have fully mastered the art of throwing money at your dodgy immigrant and/or criminal type...
      • A
        A 7 months ago
        Yeah, the UK is terrible for that too. Too busy encouraging people with mental health problems to accentuate the positive and declaring them "fit for work" to bother trying to treat them.
    • Robert
      Robert  •  7 months ago
      Cannot think of anything much worce, mental ilness! just unbelievable
      • I Survived Hurricane BawB ...
        I Survived Hurricane BawB ... 7 months ago
        Poor spelling is worse!!
      • Andy M
        Andy M 7 months ago
        So is incorrect usage of punctuation. 2 exclamation marks is unnecessary as there is only one ending to the sentence. (Sorry, couldn't resist!)
      • Alana
        Alana 7 months ago
        Should it not be "two exclamation marks are unnecessary"? Sorry, I couldn't resist it either!
    • .
      .  •  7 months ago
      "Aldo Bianchini, 46, was believed to have been suffering from mental health problems".

      You don't say?
    • john
      john  •  7 months ago
      Normally if i heard "Rip your eyes out" i'd say "No". What makes these voices so silver tongued? I'd love to know.
    • Kenny
      Kenny  •  7 months ago
      I feel sorry for this man. I hope the govt, family and well wishers help him out.
    • Catherine
      Catherine  •  7 months ago
      I'm appalled some of you people think this is funny. You just echo that we live in a sad and uncaring world and I hope that none of you may ever know the torture of mental illness. Mind you....those of you who have left cruel comments obviously haven't got a brain otherwise you would have engaged it before you commented. Nobody can imagine the torment this poor man must have been going through and we should all send him healing thoughts so that he may get through this. Imagine, how awful his life is going to be now. It doesn't bear thinking about. His suffering is unimaginable.
    • Beverley
      Beverley  •  7 months ago
      Physical injuries you can see and make allowances- mental health is hidden, torturous and often taboo! Thoughts are with him and everyone involved.
     Post a comment
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