A testimony from physician Dr. Olinto Orsini Castro, found in the book of testimonies of the Tribunal for the Cause of Canonization of Father Eustáquio, recounts details of the Blessed's last days. The testimony is dated February 14, 1963.

In his writings, Dr. Olinto discusses how Father Eustáquio's illness was diagnosed and how he cared for the Dutch priest during his final days. The doctor was a member of the Minas Gerais Academy of Medicine, holding chair number 58.

Watch the full testimony:

“On the afternoon of August 23rd, upon arriving home, my wife informed me that I had been urgently summoned to see Father Eustáquio, who was very ill. I went to the convent, where I found him with a high fever and very prostrate. Father Hermenegildo told me that, since I was taking so long, he had called a neighboring doctor who had diagnosed pneumonia. Since the patient had already been medicated, I limited myself to speaking briefly with Father Eustáquio, without examining him. However, concerned about the case, I returned to see the patient the following day, taking with me my brother, an internist, Dr. Torquato Orsini. While he was undressing the patient, I noticed petechiae or reddish macules on his chest. I suspected the possibility of typhus. There were several cases in the neighborhoods and surrounding areas of Belo Horizonte. I asked Father Eustáquio if he had been bitten by a tick. He showed me the spot (dorsal region at the level of the second vertebra) where he had removed one of these parasites, which he had acquired while visiting patients in a poor neighborhood. The reddish spot from the bite was still visible. I immediately told my brother my opinion, with which he agreed. That same day I took Professors Alfredo Balena, a renowned clinician and professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Minas Gerais, and Professor Otávio Coelho de Magalhães, also a professor at the same Faculty and one of the world's leading authorities on the study of exanthematic typhus, to the patient. Both agreed with the diagnosis made to the three of us in a medical conference. We prescribed medication for the patient and communicated to those present the seriousness of the case with the most somber prognosis. At that time, this disease was incurable; today it is easily curable. I accompanied Father Eustáquio until the last day of his illness, seeing with resignation that he endured the terrible disease to the end.”

Dr. Olinto Orsini de Castro, February 14, 1963.