Fernando Baleroni overcomes pain and conveys a message of faith and hope for the New Year

Text by Marlene Rossi Severino Nobre

In 1975, Folha Espírita sought someone who could convey a Happy New Year’s message to its readers, but wanted somebody that would do so in a very remarkable way.  The choice fell on Fernando Baleroni, the great theater and television actor, notable above all because he was part of the avant-garde TV, this living cradle of ideas that shaped the fundamental basis of our artistic activities on the national scene.

Today, after profound changes, Baleroni lives his own persona, full of strength, optimism, and changes: he found himself.  His spiritual wealth was solidified throughout his sufferings.  André Luiz, in his book Mechanisms of Mediumship, p. 43, defines very well, on a scientific basis, this immense transformative power of deep emotions over our minds.

This is the gift we offer to all of you: Baleroni’s message, where faith and optimism move mountains.  Smile, life is full of hope!  “It doesn’t matter what God takes from us, but what He leaves us.”

FE – What path led you to Spiritism?

Baleroni – It was the path of truth.  I discovered it a few years before I was hospitalized, and then, with the severity of my illness, I was able to understand this whole reality.

In 1969, I met a young man who performed wonderful spiritual operations.  On that occasion, I was being treated for phlebitis, and the doctors found an obstruction in my left leg.  An aortography was scheduled to decide whether surgery was necessary.

However, I went first to a place in the neighborhood of Pinheiros, where I met this medium.  Without knowing me, he told me everything about the problem I was facing, discussed the subject with a physician that was accompanying me, and spoke about the methods that Spirits use, which are very different from those used today by Medical Science.  He operated on my leg with a pocketknife, and two weeks later I went for an aortography.  The doctors were surprised: the images did not show anything abnormal.  For them, I really had an obstruction.

Since then, several times I have been almost on the other side of life and, several times, I have been saved with the help of spiritual friends.

“I traded my leg for a bottle of booze.”

FE – I do not want to be a bother, but could you tell me about your current illness?

Baleroni — In fact, I threw my life away.  My weakness was being too strong.  I used to drink two liters of whiskey a day and nothing would happen to me. I would go for two to four days without sleeping and I did not feel a thing.  I drank more to show off, smoked desperately and worked like crazy.  One day, I had a serious infection on my finger.  I underwent several tests, and the doctors concluded that I had become diabetic.  I went home with all the medical recommendations and the diet I should follow.  But I did not care, I smoked, drank, and continued to work without any rest.  I hid from my family the extremely serious condition I was in.  One day, after fainting, they took me to the hospital: the gangrene had already reached the height of my ankle.

At the hospital, I was incredibly calm.  I said to the doctor: “Can I ask you something, doctor?  Cut off my leg 6 fingers above the knee.”  The doctor did not agree.  I underwent three mutilating surgeries, and on November 24, 1972, the definitive amputation was performed.  Exactly six fingers above the knee.  And, with diabetes, blindness also came.  That is why when an Italian friend of mine asked me what I had done, I calmly answered: “I traded my leg for a bottle of booze…”  Now I am happy because my friend wrote me from Italy, saying that he had stopped drinking.

In the bitter lesson, a warning cry

Drinking only leads to one place: to misfortune; and cigarettes too, they slowly undermine all the organs in our body… I started smoking when I was 12 years old and smoked three packs a day.  If a person who drinks would think a little about his mother, his wife, his children, and his relatives, he would not risk having the bitter experience I have today.  After traveling all over Brazil, today I am here, stuck in this wheelchair.

I do not rebel against this predicament; I am aware that I deserve it.  I believe that God preserved my life so I could serve my fellow man in some way through this suffering.  After an interview for one of our newspapers, and also after I appeared in Vendaval, a soap opera on channel 7, already in a wheelchair and blind, I started to have daily contact with several people who had the same ordeal.

Fortunately, I have been able to cheer up a lot of people.  Many of them have already returned to work, despite using a wheelchair, because they still have their sight.  I have a lot of faith in God that I will see again.  In this sense, I have been greatly helped by the spirit of a deceased doctor who wants to cure my blindness.  I have been meditating for an hour a week, so that the Spirits can work on my case.

Permanent help

It is a curious fact that I have been declared a terminal patient three times but managed to escape each time.  One of the times, I had acute hepatitis with huge ascites (water belly).  Doctor Schneider, my doctor, thought for the third time that I was going to die, but with the help of prayers, I started urinating for to five liters a day and within two days I was sitting upright.

In fact, after I lost my leg and my vision, I started to see life differently.  That is why when my daughter asked Dr. Schneider if I would have my vision back, he replied: “I don’t know, with your father anything is possible…”.

In illness, loyal friends

I have had extraordinary friendships: radio and TV personalities, like Vicente Leporace and Walter Stuart, and so many others that have shown deep care for me. However, many colleagues, who have been in the profession for 30 years, never visited me again.  They claim lack of courage, but I do not see why.  In my case, there are no regrets or complaints, on the contrary, I am happy because I see life differently.  Laura, my wife, has been a hero, and so have my daughters.  My granddaughters call me dad, my bed has everything: broken radios, breadcrumbs, bananas, it has everything.  Thank God. My granddaughters are now my greatest trophies.

Artistic career

FE – As an artist with 30 years of experience, could you give us a retrospective of your career?

Baleroni – I started out in radio in 1943, doing radio theater.  Then, with Televisão Tupi, I played major roles on avant-garde TV.  At that time, when an actor saw his name cast, he would immediately ask for the script; today, he first asks how much he will make.  Today, there is money, there is no art.  I would highlight the role of the inspector in Crime and Punishment from that time.  I played the lead role in the soap opera Os Miseráveis, by Vitor Hugo, and also the construction worker Sóstener, in Trágica Inocência.

I started doing theater with Sandro and Maria Delia Costa.  Armadilha para um homem só was shown for two years and toured all over Brazil.  In 1956, I made a film, O Sobrado, for which I won the City of São Paulo film contest and was also awarded O Saci prize.  I did countless soap operas on Channel Nine: Crossed Lives, The Leopard, Blood from my Blood, etc.  In the end, the usual struggle, countless artists in their senior years, like Rodolfo Mayer and Procópio Ferreira, are left without the protection of the law because the acting profession has not yet been regulated by the government.  May God grant that they will succeed in getting support.

Message of faith

FE – Baleroni, the final words are yours.

Baleroni – Whatever the situation in which the individual finds himself, he can never despair.  Whoever is with God is never alone.  Many people took advantage of what happened to me, found support in all of this, and I am happy about that.  The most important thing is not what God takes from us, but what he leaves us.  A smile is still the greatest medicine in the world, the vaccine against all diseases.  Be happy with what God has left you, my friend, and press forward!