During his 38-day hospital battle against pneumonia, there was a moment when Pope Francis came close to death, prompting his doctors to consider ending treatment to allow him to die peacefully, according to Sergio Alfieri, the head of the pope's medical team.
Following a severe breathing crisis on February 28, Alfieri noted, "there was a real risk he might not make it." The medical team faced a difficult decision: continue aggressive treatment, risking damage to other organs, or allow him to pass peacefully. In the end, they chose to proceed with treatment.
The 88-year-old pope recently emerged from his most serious health crisis in his 12-year papacy. He was first admitted to Gemelli hospital on February 14 for bronchitis, which escalated into pneumonia, a particularly dangerous condition for him due to a history of pleurisy and having had part of one lung removed.
Throughout his hospital stay, the Vatican provided daily updates on his condition, which included four serious respiratory crises characterized by intense coughing fits, resembling asthma attacks. Alfieri previously stated that two of these crises were critical and put the pope in significant jeopardy. In the recent interview, he revealed that it was the pope’s personal nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti, who urged the medical team to persevere with treatment after a vomiting episode.
"Try everything; don't give up," was Strappetti's message to the team, as recounted by Alfieri. Despite the risk to his kidneys and bone marrow, they continued treatment, and Francis's body ultimately responded well, leading to an improvement in his lung infection.
Since his discharge from the hospital, the pope has been advised to rest for an additional two months to ensure complete recovery. It remains unclear how visible he will be in public during this time.
Alfieri described the pope's first public appearance since his hospitalization—in which he appeared on a balcony dressed in white—as a profoundly emotional moment. "It was the emotion of seeing the man become again the pope," he reflected.