Pierlucio Tinazzi was a guy who just loved going for ride on his motorcycle. He was employed as a security guard at the Mont Blanc Tunnel until the fateful day of the fire that claimed the lives of 37 people, one of them being Tinazzi.
The story went that before he had succumbed to the fire, he Tinazzi had rescued ten people from the blaze. As a result, he was heralded as an Italian hero and given numerous posthumous awards. Various motorcycle magazines ran his story and he became famous among motorcyclists.
Mark Gardiner was one of those who wrote about Tinazzi. The story he wrote about Tinazzi had been published in 2003 but as he revisited the details, he began to realize that the legend of Tinazzi wasn't true.
(Image credit: Mark Gardiner/CJR)