FAMOUS EMBRACE. Pope Francis embraces Vinicio Riva in this 2013 photo that hit the headlines worldwide. Riva died on Wednesday (Jan. 10, 2024) after a long battle with his illness. (ANSA)
ROME – A man with a deformed face and head due to a rare disease and who hugged the headlines in 2013 after Pope Francis embraced him soon after his pontificate, died in a northern Italian hospital on Wednesday after a long battle with an illness.
Vinicio Riva died at the age of 63 in the Vicenza Hospital where he had been receiving treatment for some time, local media said.
Riva was embraced by Francis before a general audience on Nov. 6, 2013.
Their photo hit the headlines worldwide.
Riva's deformity was due to a genetic disorder called neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1), historically called von Recklinghausen's disease, which is characterized by an increased risk of developing noncancerous and cancerous tumors, as well as other physical and neurological manifestations. (ANSA)
