Pope was found unresponsive ‘with eyes open’ as doctor reveals Pontiff’s heartbreaking last regret
Pope Francis’ doctor has revealed the Pontiff’s heartbreaking final moments, including his ‘last regret’.
Listen to this article
Pope Francis's doctor found the pontiff with his eyes open and breathing normally, but unresponsive when he was called to the Vatican early on Monday morning.
The 88-year-old, who died on Easter Monday, has been dubbed by some as the "people's pope", having spoken out for the poor and those in need in his lifetime and shunned many of the extravagances that come with papal life.
Dr Sergio Alfieri co-ordinated Francis's five-week hospital treatment for double pneumonia and continued to oversee the pope's treatment after the pontiff returned to the Vatican on March 23 for two months of rest to allow a full recovery.
While the pope nearly died from pneumonia, he seemed to have recovered and seemed to be doing ‘very well’ before his death from a sudden stroke.
Read more: Deadly Russian 'ballistic missile strikes' hit Kyiv - as Zelenskyy cuts short South Africa visit
Just the day before he died, he appeared in his open-air popemobile to greet a large crowd, who had gathered to welcome the pope back from his long hospital stay on Easter Sunday.
Dr Alfieri was alerted at 5.30am on Monday by Francis's health care assistant, Massimiliano Strappetti, that Francis had been stricken and needed to be taken to the hospital.
The doctor told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on Thursday that he arrived 20 minutes later.
"I went into his room, and he had his eyes open,” he said.
“I noted that he did not have respiratory issues, so I tried to call him but he did not respond. He also did not respond to stimuli, even painful ones.
"In that moment, I understood there was nothing more to do. He was in a coma."
Dr Alfieri decided against moving Francis back to the Gemelli hospital, where he was treated for his complex respiratory infection that nearly killed him twice.
"He would have died on the way," the doctor told Italian newspaper La Repubblica, adding that he was able to fulfil one of the Pope’s final wishes by not moving him.
"The pope wanted to die at home, he always said it while he was at Gemelli," Dr Alfieri said.
The pope died two hours after suffering a stroke.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin arrived and said the rosary over the body, accompanied by the papal household staff, Dr Alfieri told the Milan daily.
"I gave him a caress, as a farewell," the doctor said.
Dr Alfiere also told La Repubblica that the Pope shared one last regret with him before his death.
When the pope visited around 70 prisoners in Rome’s Regina Coeli prison on Holy Thursday, 17 April, he wished he had been able to perform a foot-washing ritual.
He had performed the ritual, which evokes Jesus’ gesture with the disciples on the eve of his death, several times with the prisoners in past years.
"He regretted he could not wash the feet of the prisoners," said the doctor.
"'This time I couldn't do it' was the last thing he said to me."
Vatican News has reported that the pope managed a gesture of farewell to his healthcare assistant Mr Strappetti after falling ill, and that people with him at the time said he did not appear to suffer.
Francis will be buried on Saturday in a state funeral expected to draw world leaders, including US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and dozens of official delegations.