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| - A photograph allegedly showing Italian police cooking pasta for an 87-year-old woman who called them saying she was hungry and felt alone has circulated online for years. "This 87 year old woman called the Italian police to say she was hungry and lonely. They came and cooked her pasta and reminded her that she was not alone," the caption to the photograph read. The photo was also spread on other social media platforms, such as Reddit, 9GAG, and X.
(Facebook user Tanya Gupta)
In short, because the viral meme shared an authentic photograph and a true story about Italian policeman cooking pasta for an 87-year-old woman after she called them, we have rated this claim as "True."
The photograph was originally posted in June 2020, on an Instagram profile of Polizia di Stato, the Italian National Police.
(Instagram user @poliziadistato_officialpage)
The post said the policemen cooked ravioli for the 87-year-old lady who "waited in vain for her caregiver to return for dinner" (we translated it from Italian):
In #Florence, an 87-year-old lady waited in vain for her caregiver to return for dinner.
With her son away, she found herself alone in the house and bedridden because of her condition. As despair mounted in her, she had the idea of calling the police.
A squad car went to Coverciano where the woman resides, and thanks to a neighbor the policemen were able to enter the house to her delight. The two officers did well at the stove and prepared a nice dish of ravioli with sauce that the lady ate in company.
An article on the topic, published by a local newspaper Firenze Today, read (we translated it from Italian):
Close to people in every sense of the word even by improvising themselves as chefs. In fact, on Saturday night two officers from the Florence Police Headquarters helped a distressed 87-year-old pensioner prepare her dinner.
The lady had been left alone after the bandante chosen by her son failed to show up to take care of her. This had been compounded by the fact that the woman, trying not to make her son spend money due to the ongoing economic crisis, had dismissed him by saying that she did not need him and not to spend money to reach her.
After a few hours, the woman realized the limitations imposed by age and illness. So she picked up the phone and asked 113 for help: "I'm tired and hungry but I can't cook because my arm hurts." The dispatcher reassured her, "Ma'am tell me where you're calling from and don't worry. We'll sort it out." The center squad car leaves, sprinting to Coverciano for the elderly woman in distress.
No one answered the doorbell, so the officers had a neighbor open the door and then entered the apartment. The policemen, Antonio and Giuseppe, found the lady in the bedroom. They made her comfortable in a chair and then prepared dinner for her. One set the table, the other went to the stove. After ten minutes, dinner was ready: tomato ravioli on the table. A dish in service seasoned with solidarity.
This isn't the first time we've fact-checked an Italy-related claim. In May 2024, we debunked a false rumor that Geppetto, the woodcarver in "The Adventures of Pinocchio" who created a walking, talking puppet out of wood, was actually a slave owner who built Pinocchio out of slaves' body parts. We also investigated whether Italian singer Adriano Celentano released a song in the 1970s with nonsense lyrics meant to sound like American English.
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