In recent days, the Operational Unit of Civil Protection (Nucleo Operativo Protezione Civile, NOPC) carried out another delicate international mission in Ottawa, ensuring the transport to Italy of hematopoietic stem cells from a compatible donor identified in Canada. The cells were intended for an Italian patient suffering from acute myeloid leukemia who was awaiting a transplant at a specialized center in Northern Italy. A special container provided by the Rotary Club of Bergamo was used to transport the cells, a testament to the network of solidarity that actively supports these delicate missions.
The mission to the Canadian capital by NOPC volunteer Dr. Sabrina Foti coincided with the visit to Ottawa by the Hon. Alessandra Locatelli, Italy’s Minister for Disability. During a meeting held at the residence of the Ambassador of Italy to Canada, Alessandro Cattaneo, Minister Locatelli thanked NOPC for its important work, emphasizing that it is an Italian organization founded on solidarity, volunteerism, and the ability to build concrete connections between people and healthcare systems, even thousands of kilometers apart.
Founded in Florence in 1993 by Massimo Pieraccini, NOPC has been working for more than thirty years to provide the logistical support needed for the urgent transport of medical teams and biological materials for transplants, connecting donors and transplant centers in Italy and around the world. Thanks to the work of approximately 140 volunteers, the Unit has so far assisted 16,348 people in receiving transplants, carrying out 1,061 missions in 2026 alone. Canada is becoming an increasingly important hub in this international network. In 2025, NOPC carried out collections in Calgary, Ottawa, Québec City and Toronto, while in 2026, transports have already been completed from Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver. The chance of finding a fully compatible donor outside the family can be extremely rare (statistically 1 in 100,000); for this reason, when a potential “genetic twin” is identified, speed, coordination, and reliability of the logistics chain become essential to ensure that the biological material reaches the patient in time. The latest mission to Ottawa is therefore another example of the deep human ties that connect Italy and Canada, and of how international cooperation can be transformed into a concrete act of solidarity and hope.
