Rui Rosinha was serious burnt when fighting last summer’s fire in Castanheira de Pera, Leiria and so far has been in surgery 14 times to repair the injuries to his body.The fireman spent six months in hospital after he was 85% incapacitated after fighting the June 2017 blaze in which 60 people died.
Rosinha lay in a coma for almost three months after the fires – unaware that his best friend had perished and now, at the age of 40, suffers from mobility problems and is being treated by several specialists including ophthalmology, pain consultation, urology, pneumology, orthopaedics, plastic surgery, psychiatry and psychology.
The fireman’s wife, Marina Rodrigues, has been receiving psychiatric treatment since June 17th last year after her husband was seriously burned with severe damage to his lips, the tip of his nose and his ears, ending up with no eyelids and to other parts of his body that were exposed.
It has been calculated that this local hero is to receive a disability pension of €267, a point picked up by many Sunday newspapers.
The opposition Social Democratic Party earlier this month sent a request to the Ministry of Labour asking if Rui Rosinha could be entitled to any additional support, given the horrific and violent way that he was injured.
Minister Vieira da Silva is silent on the matter but now that Rosinha’s plight has been in the Sundays, he would do well to answer the question.
Comments
I don't think anyone would describe the Lords as 'ordinary.' Most are there as they have excelled in politics or public life, are high up in the Church or are hereditary Peers.
The distinction is that Portugal has no such system and its elite are those wealthy people and families with political connections.
The number of hereditary Peers was cut back by Blair in 1999 so that more former MPs and Ministers could be appointed to the Upper House.
The assertion that 'most' of them own large swathes of land and are related to royalty is outdated but still a common misconception.
In order for the Government of the day to pass a new law or Bill, the House of Lords will discuss and debate the Bill and if they decide that it they do not agree with the Government on the Bill they then dismiss it or send it back to the Government to word it in a way that they approve of, Then and only then can it be approved.
The Lords are more powerful then politicians as they never have to worry about their position, as there will always be a House of Lords and they will always have power. Sounds elitist to me.
The Lords can not be classified as a group of wealthy businessmen and women with political influence. Despite their place in the British psyche, all members of the House of Lords (excluding 90 hereditary peers elected among themselves and two peers who are ex officio members) are appointed.
The membership is drawn from the peerage and is made up of Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal. The Lords Spiritual are 26 bishops in the established Church of England.
Of the Lords Temporal, the majority are life peers who are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, or on the advice of the House of Lords Appointments Commission. However, they also include some hereditary peers including four dukes.
Portugal has no equivalent system and when the media refer to the 'elite' it generally is referring to established wealthy families with political connections.
If the arsonist has assets that can be taken great, take them but how do you get compensation money out of an arsonist who is retarded, or an alcoholic, the government is responsible for ensuring that anyone injured in public service is adequately compensated, that is what the rest of us pay our taxes for.
Elite is defined as 'a group or class of people seen as having the most power and influence in a society, especially on account of their wealth or privilege,' so I guess it's the mixture of money and influence that earns many Portuguese this description.
Why is it that in any country, wealthy people are called rich, but according to a number of comment writer's in the ADN, wealthy Portugese people are called "elite".
Could this be a reaction to their own personal family experience.
Da Silva needs to think long and hard about how this is resolved. With out the courage and dedication of these fireman. This country would just be ashes come the fire season..
Read here of UK compensation fire service payouts for "An angry cow, wet steps and a vacuum cleaner "
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/firefighter-compensation-claim-cost-250000-1816252