Severino D’Angelo laid on his hospital bed weak but calm. How did this man, who was hospitalized for nine months, become a very successful electrical engineer with 13 patents? His amazing journey from hospitalization to success is a truly inspiring story.
Severino was born on April 1, 1944 in the rural town of Gioi, Italy. As a young boy, he had always been bright, although never appreciating school and slacking off when he knew he could do better. He had never learned to speak English, instead he spoke Italian. In 1965, he was drafted into the army, his dad forcing him to go without listening to his troubles. That was the first time in America. “It’s the first time I’ve been out of my hometown. It was magical,” said Severino in his thick Italian accent.
Right before he would start fighting for his army, he became really ill. The doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. All they knew was that his liver was in much pain. The assigned doctor, according to Severino, was not the brightest. He thought that they should apply pressure onto the liver to test things. Luckily, Severino requested a new doctor, and with this new doctor, they figured out exactly what was happening. The new doctor came in and knew without any additional testing, that there wasn’t something wrong with his liver, but something around it.
“If someone pushed my liver, I would immediately die,” Severino states without any pause. The new doctor saved his life. There was a big balloon of poison around the liver, three liters (6.6 pounds).
As time went on, his scheduled surgery came closer and closer. In the hospital, he learned how to speak English, even though he still has his voice coated with his Italian accent. He even got a high school diploma from taking online classes. He was then grateful for his quick learning mind from when he was a child. On the day of his surgery, he knew there was a chance he wouldn’t make it. With an optimistic mind, he went into the surgery determined to make it out alive. Lucky for everyone, the surgery was successful and he was completely fine.
After his hospitalization, he got his first job in America as an electrical engineer in 1967. In his first job he had one patent owned to his name. A patent is the owning of an idea or invention, proved that the idea would actually work by the government. Unfortunately, all the work load came onto him. He would be blamed for everything that went wrong, it was “very stressful, understaffed, financed unwell, and very difficult to be around the others who worked for the company,” he recalled. So, he quit and found another job in 1968 as an electrical engineer. He found this new position much better in many ways.
At this new company, he added twelve more patents to his name. Severino D’angleo had turned his life around from being stuck inside for nine months in a hospital to having more happiness than he could ever imagine. “When I was a kid, I never dreamed of being rich. I never dreamed of traveling the world. I was simple.” His heart was and still is the opposite of greedy. His is a story of perseverance, accomplishment, and an immigrant fulfilling his wildest dreams in America. I am proud to be his granddaughter.
