To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the killing and organ donation of Nicholas, Reg and Maggie Green will travel to Italy, where he was shot, for a series of conferences to raise organ donation. Nicholas’ story stimulated similar decisions all over the world and saved many thousands of lives.
The tour includes the Bambino Gesù children’s hospital in Rome which is managed by the Holy See, the worldwide governing body of the Catholic Church and is widely referred to as the Pope’s own hospital for children; Niguarda hospital in Milan, one of the top transplant hospitals in Europe; and the University of Messina Polyclinic, where Nicholas died.
Top echelons of the medical and administrative staff will attend along with journalists from the leading newspapers, magazines, radio and television.
“This is an occasion unique in the history of transplantation,” Reg Green says. “Many of the most famous people in the world in 1994, when he was shot, are now rarely thought of. But the story of a small boy of seven is still affecting life-and-death decisions by families all over world.”
Nicholas’ parents will also meet three of his recipients.
- September 26: A conference at Bambino Gesù Hospital in Rome, with doctors and executives from the hospital;
- September 27: Conference at Niguarda Hospital in Milan, with doctors and executives of the hospital, Aido (Italian Association for Organ Donation) branches, etc., including the screening of a TV movie made 26 years ago about Nicholas’s story, featuring Jamie Lee Curtis. For the complete program, please visit https://www.ospedaleniguarda.it/news/leggi/niguarday-ospedale-in-festa-per-la-cultura-del-dono-spettacoli-gratuiti-e-aperti-a-tutti
- September 28: Mr. Green will be in Milan until early afternoon, while Mrs. Green will be in Messina for an international conference held there every year in memory of Nicholas (the conference is called ‘DONARTE’). Official commitments for this conference are scheduled for the afternoon, including a boat race in memory of Nicholas.
- September 29 (until mid-afternoon): opening ceremony of Donarte conference in Messina. Mrs. and Mr. Green are expected to meet three of Nicholas’s organ recipients.
- September 30 and October 1: the Greens will be in Rome to be interviewed by TVs and media.
The Nicholas Effect 