A 43-year-old Moroccan street seller has become an Italian citizen after his special merits were recognised by the government. He saved a female hospital doctor after she was attacked by a man in Calabria four years ago.
The Moroccan street seller, Mustapha El Aoudi, was at his stall near the hospital in Crotone when he heard a woman crying for help on December 4, 2018.
The doctor, Maria Carmela Calindro, was on the floor while a man was attacking her with a screwdriver in a row over his treatment. A court later convicted Luigi Amoruso of attempted murder.
El Aoudi immediately left his stall and came to Calindro’s aid, disarming Amoruso. He was later knighted by President Sergio Mattarella. On Thursday evening, Giorgia Meloni’s cabinet recognised his special merits and conferred citizenship on him.
“It was my dream to become Italian,” said El Aoudi with tears in his eyes, waving an Italian flag. “This is my country. I’ve lived here since I was 10. And now my dream has come true”.
