For the first time since he announced he had pancreatic cancer, Enrica Bonaccorti returns to TV and does so in Verissimo, giving a long interview to Silvia Toffanin in which he reveals how he has lived the past few months, from the discovery of the disease to the reaction of shutting himself off from the world (“I am absent from myself“) until the decision to open up. A sincere story without rhetoric and pietism, full of Bonaccorti style, which is not short of irony (“Do I look beautiful in this wig?”, he said, pointing to the wig) and more intense moments, such as when he announced that he had prepared a will and gave directions for the funeral, and even thought about the song that would be sung at the ceremony.
PANCREAS CANCER IS NOT OPERABLE
The 75-year-old actress and presenter complained to Silvia Toffanin that she had undergone chemotherapy and radiotherapy and now, for two and a half months, she does not need to do anything more. Until the next CT scan. “I’m fine, even during therapy I’m doing better than I expected. I didn’t realize that I had this thing and even now I don’t feel this tragedy inside me.” Unfortunately, the pancreatic tumor he had was inoperable, because it was in a bad spot. “Currently with chemotherapy, the tumor has not regressed, it has not even moved and has not metastasized. I hope to have surgery someday, but first, the pancreas must be removed“. How do you feel today? “I had nausea for a few days, but apart from that everything was fine: I felt no pain and I was amazed, because I had heard very different stories.”
DISEASE (AND THE MIND OF ELEONORA GIORGI)
It all started early last summer, almost by chance, but one visit changed his life. “I did some tests, I thought I would go to the beach the next day… Instead they told me that after three days I had to start chemotherapy. I didn’t feel any particular symptoms, except a lot of weakness“, he said. The clear diagnosis, pancreatic cancer, which”Eleonora Giorgi, who is very close to me, reminded me. I have followed his adventures, I thought I would not be as good as him“. But unlike Giorgi, he reacted by withdrawing. “I don’t want to talk to anyone, I don’t answer the phone, I didn’t even open the bedroom cover. I wanted to cancel myself and I didn’t want to do anything: for four months I was completely absent from myself, I waited, I remained lethargic with my eyes open and I woke up thanks to people”, he said.
RENATO ZERO SURPRISE
There have been dark moments over the months but also a lot of affection from the community and lifelong friends, starting with Renato Zero, who gave him an unexpected surprise. “I know he loves me, but he has a lot of commitments, he’s going on a new tour… Then one day he came home and another time he said to me: ‘Let’s go out.’ ‘Well, I’ve never been out, except they once took me out for half an hour for lunch,’ I said. ‘No, no, you have to come and eat the fish’. So he took me to a beautiful place with his family”. At his side there was always his daughter Verdiana, his niece, while his thoughts often turned to his partner Giacomo, with whom he had been close for two decades, who died four years ago: “With him near me, I will be calm”.
And again: “My daughter proved to be very strong, she was close to me in the right way, she didn’t talk to me about the crime, she didn’t talk about the will, but I’ve done everything. Regarding the funeral, I’m thinking about the details, I want to start with ‘Rhapsody’ by George Gershwin and then ‘Why’ by Annie Lennox. I’m not superstitious. I’m fine, I want to tell everyone, thanks also to you.”
MOVING THANKS TO THE PUBLIC
Lastly, one of the most intense parts, as a thank you to the public for showering him with affection: “I felt like I was living a lie, I didn’t reply to my friends’ messages, I didn’t appear at events when they invited me. I wasn’t there, I canceled it myself. I couldn’t keep hiding and telling them how it was. At that time I received thousands of messages that restored my desire to be in the world”, continued Enrica Bonaccorti. “From you – he said publicly – I learned that there are people who have been suffering from this disease for several years. They restored my desire to live and be there.”
