He lived in the south of the Dominican Republic until 2006. As soon as he turned nine, he joined his mother Neris, who had remarried, and moved to Cigliano (Vercelli), before then going into foster care in San Secondo di Pinerolo (Turin). As a child he played baseball for fun. In Italy he tried judo and tennis, then athletics with the school cross-country events, persevering with the short sprint from 2012 under the guidance of Antonio Dotti before discovering his aptitude for long-distance running. He won silver with the Italian relay team at the 2015 European Junior Championships. He has been training since spring 2016 in Turin with Francesco Ricci. After being held back in 2018 by injuries, he improved his personal best several times in 2019 to a surprising bronze medal at the European U23 Championships. He is a qualified mechanic, has a passion for pencil drawings, and enjoys reading fantasy books.