Then, at Tor Vergata, he was coming from behind to a big stage, in front of which two million young people were waiting for him, and on the last part he had a problem. He was unable to climb after a small ascent. I have seen it up close. I was standing a few meters away from him, and there were maybe three more people with me, and we witnessed him fighting terribly, how he was facing his pain, his physical weakness. He took a cane and hit it in helplessness on the railing next to it. For the only time in my life I saw him agitated by his disability. At that moment something inside stung me. Since then, the hike to the steep mountain began… As the weeks and months passed, it became more and more difficult, and I accompanied the Pope in his daily life, trying to provide him with the necessary technical assistance.
Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi “It happened in the Vatican”
Znak Publishing House. Kraków 2020
Page: 199
