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  "path": "/news/world/italian-boy-dies-transplant-heart-frostbite-probe-launched",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-21T22:13:44.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Donald Trump ups global tariffs to 15% after lashing out at 'anti-American' Supreme Court ruling",
    "Chagossian sends powerful message to 'anti-British' Keir Starmer on GB News: 'He betrayed us!'",
    "Chagossian leader calls on Keir Starmer to 'resign' over Chagos 'failure' - 'He has to go!'",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nA toddler in Italy who received a damaged donor heart has died, the family's lawyer has said.\n\nTwo-year-old Domenico died shortly before 09:30 local time (08:30 GMT) on Saturday, Francesco Petruzzi told reporters.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nMonaldi Hospital, where he was being treated, said he had suffered a \"sudden and irreversible worsening of his clinical condition\".\n\nThe heart given to Domenico during a transplant in late December was reportedly transported to the hospital in direct contact with dry ice, causing severe tissue damage.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nProsecutors have opened an investigation into the incident, and six medics have been placed under formal investigation in a case which has sparked outrage in Italy.\n\nPetruzzi has said the organ arrived \"burned by frostbite\" after being transported over 800km (490 miles) from Bolzano to Naples in an unsuitable container alongside the ice, without a thermometer to alert the medical team to the low temperature.\n\nThe two-year-old had been on life support in Naples for almost two months, with his mother Patrizia Mercolino appealing to the Pope to help her son.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\"It's over. Domenico is gone,\" Mercolino told reporters on Saturday. She said a foundation would be established in his name.\n\nThe family's lawyer said the foundation would be for \"all children who cannot have a transplant and to help all victims of malpractice and medical negligence\".\n\nItalian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the \"whole of Italy mourns the loss of little Domenico, a warrior who will never be forgotten\".\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * Donald Trump ups global tariffs to 15% after lashing out at 'anti-American' Supreme Court ruling\n  * Chagossian sends powerful message to 'anti-British' Keir Starmer on GB News: 'He betrayed us!'\n  * Chagossian leader calls on Keir Starmer to 'resign' over Chagos 'failure' - 'He has to go!'\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nShe wrote on X: \"On behalf of myself and the government, I offer my sincerest condolences and deepest sympathy to his mother Patrizia, his father Antonio and all his loved ones.\n\n\"I am certain that the competent authorities will shed full light on this terrible incident\".\n\nOn Wednesday, a panel of paediatric specialists concluded Domenico's condition was \"not compatible\" with another transplant.\n\nDoctors had warned a prolonged use of the life support system might have compromised his lungs, liver and kidneys.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nPetruzzi said at the time the family wanted to see all the relevant medical records: \"If the time for hope has ended, then the time for responsibility has begun.\"\n\nItaly's Health Minister Orazio Schillaci said earlier this week that \"we must absolutely clarify what happened.\n\n\"We owe it to the child, to the family, but also to all Italians.\n\n\"We have an excellent national health service, which has been able to handle and almost always resolve complex situations. So, I believe citizens should not lose faith.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards:The GB News Editorial Charter **",
  "title": "Boy, 2, dies after transplant with heart ‘burned by frostbite’ as probe launched"
}