Friends and family remember father-of-four Marco Fischetto who choked to death at Adelaide Airport

On his way to board a plane, a father-of-four tragically choked on a snack and died. Now, the loved ones he left behind are speaking out about the gaping hole his loss has left in their lives.

A man who choked to death at the Adelaide Airport was eating a jelly snake when tragedy struck.

Father-of-four Marco Fischetto was believed to be snacking on the sweet while waiting to board a flight to Melbourne, where he planned to buy a car, when he suddenly collapsed in the airport’s main terminal just before 9pm on Monday, April 8.

“I just can’t believe that he went that way,” said Mr Fischetto’s devastated close friend, Robert Giannetta.

Adelaide father Marco Fischetto died while eating a jelly snake at the Adelaide Airport. Picture: Facebook.

“Being in a public place and having so many people around him. I don’t know how long it took for anyone to notice and help him. I’m just in shock.

“When I heard on Tuesday morning, I was just stone cold, I just couldn’t believe it. If that can happen to him, it can happen to anyone. It’s brought me closer to my family, I cherish every hour with my wife and children.”

Mel Jamieson, who was engaged to Mr Fischetto for the past year and lived with him for four years, said they had celebrated his 50th birthday together in Bali in January this year.

“It was a beautiful little holiday for his birthday,” said the Adelaide hairdresser, who reconnected with Mr Fischetto, a childhood friend, on her birthday in July 2020.

“Marco was a very thoughtful, very giving and generous and a very good friend. He had a big heart. A lot of people were very drawn to him.

“He always made sure everybody was fed and looked after.”

Marco Fischetto.

Mr Fischetto – a hospitality veteran who had worked in some of Adelaide’s best-known Italian restaurants. Picture: Facebook.

Mr Fischetto – a hospitality veteran who had worked in some of Adelaide’s best-known Italian restaurants, including some on Rundle St – had a “coinnoseur’s palate”, said Mr Giannetta, a hair stylist who last spoke with his friend of more than 25 years the day before he died.

“He liked to eat the fine things,” he said.

Mr Giannetta said the last time he saw Mr Fischetto was when he had a spontaneous lunch with his friend at Lou Miranda Winery in the Barossa Valley

“That was a beautiful day,” he said.

“He was a big kid, he was very jovial and fun. He would ring me up and say ‘are you home, I’ve got some ice cream for you to try’.”

On his Facebook page, Mr Fischetto had the haunting motto: “Just do it! Life’s too short.”

He also loved the Italian saying “il miglior disprezzo e’ la non curanza”, which translated means “the best contempt is carelessness”.

Mr Fischetto was born in Brindisi in Italy and came to Adelaide as a young child, living in the southern suburbs with his parents, Nancy and Francesco, older sister, Christina, and younger brother, Alex.

He also had four sons.

Originally published as Friends and family remember father-of-four Marco Fischetto who choked to death at Adelaide Airport