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Waking up From a Coma During an Ongoing Pandemic
The story of an Italian executive-chef who became an inspiration after waking up paralyzed from a three-month-long coma
“Why can’t you work in your condition?” I ask the man in the wheelchair, sitting across the table from me.
“I am an executive chef. I need to oversee everything and everyone. I need to solve any issue that may arise in the kitchen. An executive chef has to be hands-on and on his feet at all times.”
I met Belvedere and his wife in October 2020 in an improvised studio apartment with no heating or proper living conditions. At the time, I was distributing bakery goods for those in need in my neighborhood through the Solidarity Network. His social case was among those assigned to me. The first time I met his gaze in the doorway, Louis impressed me with his good manners and lust for life. A few deliveries later, I discovered that Jose Louis Belvedere is a sixty-two-year-old awarded Italian executive-chef, born in Buenos Aires to Italian parents. His passion paved the way to travel around the world and share his skills with people worldwide.