Chiara Pennuti’s lesson: as a podcast has transformed the disease into a inheritance of hope

Chiara Pennuti He died on 11 May 2025, at the age of 27, in his home in Forlì, assisted by family members and a team of home care. From 2020 he lived with a Sinovial sarcomaa rare shape of malignant tumor that affects soft tissues. But until the last he chose to live with awareness and commitment, leaving a powerful legacy: the podcast A zebra in lane.

Aerospace engineer, Chiara worked in Germany in the space rocket sector. Had been president of EuroAviathe European Erospace students. The diagnosis has changed the course of his life, but did not break his spirit. Indeed, she lit in her the need to tell, share, transform suffering into something useful for others too.

The podcast – eight episodes published on Spotify and YouTube – is not just a diary on the disease. It is a collective, choral story, with the voices of patients, doctors, nurses, friends. There is the intention of showing humanity behind each shirts, and the effort – often silent – behind every therapy. A project supported by a fundraising of over 15,000 euros, used to face personal medical expenses but also to finance the Oncological research of the “Dino Amadori” IST by Meldola.

Chiara never wanted to be called “warrior”. “I can’t stand this term – he said – gives a wrong idea of ​​cancer. It would be nice to heal, but if it doesn’t happen it will not be the fault of my commitment”. Simple, shiny words that dismantle many toxic stereotypes about the disease. And they offer to those who listen to a different model: that of active acceptance, dignity, care of the self and others.

Civil rights activist, has collaborated with theLuca Coscioni Association for the promotion of medically assisted suicide, and with Minervareality dedicated to scientific dissemination. He had started working in the second season of the Podcast. “This project – says the family – was his way of transforming suffering into help tool”.

In his life and in his telling, Chiara managed to build authentic connections. He loved nature – the mountain, the river, the sea – and loved active participation. Those who knew it remember his smile, his irony even in the hardest moments, the ability to be in relationships with depth and lightness together.

On May 14, friends and relatives will meet in the Mortuary Chamber of the Morgagni-Pietrononi hospital to greet her. Then the coffin will be launched to cremation. “You wouldn’t have wanted to leave – the father Giancarlo wrote on Facebook – you still had many things to do. But we will find ourselves, without boulders on the heart”.