Rocek, a family with sport in their DNA: parents were professional athletes, mother played volleyball for the Czech national team and father paddled, the other two children - brother and sister also their twins - sportsmen in football and volleyball. Aisha Rocek, Patrick’s twin sister, will be taking part in the Paris Olympics this summer in the blue team of rowing.

About a year ago, the complex surgery performed at the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute by Dr. Fabio Davoli, responsible of General and Thoracic Surgery: "Patrick had a voluminous osteochondroma of the fourth right rib, a benign bone tumor but in this case disabling for its size, symptomatic of pain in the pectoral region and potentially dangerous for surrounding organs."

After a first consultation with the Director of Spinal Surgery of Rizzoli, Prof. Alessandro Gasbarrini, Patrick started with the team of Thoracic Surgery the delicate path aimed at making the removal of the lesion compatible with the continuation of his sports career.

"The operation was performed with a minimally invasive technique - explains Davoli. - The traditional surgical approach, by opening the chest and cutting the rib involved, would not allow Patrick to continue with competitive rowing. Instead, we made two small incisions and then proceeded to the video-assisted removal of the lesion, preserving the integrity of the coast. The intervention was made possible by the presence at Rizzoli of both ultra-specific expertise and sophisticated technologies."

One year after surgery, the 25-year-old talent is fine, He started competing again and even finished first in the World Cup rowing race that took place on Lake Varese, in Schiranna. He then won the bronze medal in the second stage held in Lucerne, Switzerland.

He therefore wanted to meet Dr Davoli with Aisha and their coach Stefano Fraquelli, visiting together the monumental area of Rizzoli.