Although his suicide is often linked to the Foundation's financial difficulties, the letter clearly shows Favaloro felt overwhelmed by the corruption of the health system and that he could not fight against it. In the letter, he refers to himself as "Don Quixote" in his lonely battle against the giants. Aggravating this situation was that Favaloro had never recovered from the death of his wife in 1998. Following her death, he had resolved to marry one of his longtime colleagues and coauthors, Diana Truden; she lived with Favaloro during his final days and was in his Palermo neighborhood house when he died by suicide.