Trapped at Home: Disabled Man Isolated for Four Years in Pomigliano Apartment
Architectural barriers are more than just physical obstacles; they are invisible walls that isolate, deny rights, and diminish the quality of life for thousands of individuals. In Campania, where social fragility often collides with administrative inertia and diffused responsibilities, a poignant story dramatically encapsulates the failure of an entire system.
This unfolding tragedy is centered in Pomigliano d’Arco, in the province of Naples. Here, Luigi, a 22-year-old with Down syndrome, and having undergone a delicate occipital-cervical stabilization surgery, has been confined to his home for over four years. He resides on the third floor of an IACP building at via Giuseppe Campanale 9, a structure devoid of a lift. His physical condition, meticulously documented by medical reports and X-rays, renders ascending or descending stairs an impossible feat.
Every potential outing – a doctor’s appointment, therapy session, or even a simple walk – has transformed into a forbidden endeavor.
The sheer absurdity of this situation is recounted by Luigi’s mother, who for three years has been locked in a relentless battle against a bureaucracy seemingly impervious to all appeals. Since 2022, she has reached out to every conceivable authority: the Municipality of Pomigliano d’Arco, ACER Campania (formerly IACP), the Region, the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Ombudsman, and the Disability Rights Advocate. Her journey has been an exhausting odyssey of protocols, certified emails, and endless waiting.
The response? None. Only a continuous buck-passing, broken promises, and an institutional silence that echoes abandonment. The sole concrete signal arrived from the European Community, which announced the initiation of formal procedures due to the inaction of the involved parties.
“This is not a complicated request: I only want my son’s rightful freedom to be restored,” the distressed mother laments. “I am asking for a work schedule or, alternatively, an accessible apartment. But we cannot wait any longer.”
Faced with an increasingly intolerable impasse, the family turned to Deputy Francesco Emilio Borrelli (Alleanza Verdi-Sinistra), urging him to leverage his institutional voice to break the cycle of blame-shifting among entities and compel ACER Campania to reach a definitive decision.
The appeal specifically targets the Regional Director of ACER, from whom a formal response and an immediate meeting are expected to establish concrete timelines for the installation of a lift or, alternatively, the allocation of an accessible dwelling.
Upon being informed of the situation, Borrelli stated unequivocally: “This story is a punch to the gut. It is unacceptable that in 2025, a disabled young man is condemned to isolation due to bureaucracy. I will intervene immediately with ACER, the Municipality, and the Region. Luigi’s dignity is non-negotiable. No more buck-passing: we demand answers, concrete timelines, and a tangible solution.”
Luigi’s story, while one of many across the country, paints a stark picture of denied rights. It raises an unavoidable question: how much longer must this family wait to see what law and common sense already guarantee?
In a civilized Italy, the answer should be simple: no one, ever again.
Our questions remain unanswered:
- Why has it taken over four years for any substantial action to be considered?
- What specific bureaucratic hurdles have prevented the installation of a lift or the relocation of Luigi’s family?
- What accountability mechanisms are in place for public bodies that fail to address such critical accessibility issues?
- Will the intervention of Deputy Borrelli finally break the cycle of inaction, and what concrete steps will be taken?
What’s next?
We will continue to monitor Luigi’s case closely, following Deputy Borrelli’s promised interventions with ACER, the Municipality, and the Region. The family’s plea for a definitive timeline for a lift installation or an accessible apartment remains urgent. We call on all relevant authorities to prioritize this human rights issue and provide a swift resolution.
If you have information regarding similar cases of bureaucratic neglect or architectural barriers impacting disabled individuals in Campania, please contact us confidentially.
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