When he heard “fire” shouting in the Le Constellation bar, Manfredi Marcucci, 16, rushed towards that single, narrow exit, but the fire chased him, bit him from behind and, when he reached open air and safety, his back and neck were badly burned. Today, as reported by Corriere della Sera, he came out of the coma. A few days we had spoken to the father when he was still in a medically induced coma. Below we report the interview already on newsstands from Thursday 15 January together with other contributions dedicated to Crans-Montana.
«Those were the first words my son said to me when I found him lost and with his clothes burned in front of the burned-out restaurant in Crans-Montana”, he tells us Umberto MarcucciRoman lawyer and Manfredi’s father, between concern and relief, because Manfredi made it, even if after intensive care a long recovery journey awaits him for the burns reported to over 30% of his body. Manfredi, together with ten other peers, is hospitalized at the Niguarda Hospital in Milanwhere only when the doctors wake him up from the pharmacological coma will he know that many other kids who celebrated New Year’s Eve with him are no longer there, including his friend and peer Riccardo Minghetti.
«Crans-Montana has always been the place for holidays for us, both winter and summer. We have a house there and that’s where Manfredi met Riccardo Minghetti when they were children. On New Year’s Eve they reached the town on foot: first at a friend’s house, then at a pizzeria and finally at Le Constellation, which they had also frequented in the previous days and which for the occasion had been transformed from a bar into a nightclub. We were at home, calm. A little after 1pm I texted him to ask if he wanted me to pick him up. He didn’t answer me and I went to sleep. At 2.20 I was woken up by a phone call from Riccardo’s mother to warn me that a fire had broken out. I rushed: I found Manfredi wounded, but alive. And I took him and two other boys to the hospital by car.”
The outside of the Niguarda hospital in Milan where some of the injured from the Crans-Montana explosion are hospitalized, including Manfredi
(REUTERS)
Faced with the lottery of life, it can happen that relief is combined with a sense of guilt: why was my son saved and his friend not? «Riccardo’s parents helped me in this: they are very close to me, they keep informed of Manfredi’s progress and on the day of the funeral in the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Rome I wanted to be at their side. I also took the opportunity to go and speak to his classmates at the Chateaubriand French high school. They were shocked. Then I immediately returned to Milan, where they only let us in to see Manfredi in the afternoon, but where I know he is in excellent hands. The psychologist team also supports us, but I think their role will be more important for my son when he wakes up. As soon as possible we will transfer him to Sant’Eugenio in Rome, so that he can also find his friends and grandparents. My mother, in particular, is an important figure in his life and she is praying for him now. I know how important the figures of grandparents are, I have very fond memories of my grandmother, who subscribed to Famiglia Cristiana for thirty years, and I associate your newspaper with her with affection.”
The fire in which 40 young people lost their lives was also an opportunity to argue about the fact that some young people did not immediately understand the extent of the danger, stunned by the fun, cell phones and alcohol, but also about the parents who leave their teenage children free to party in an overcrowded club. «Absurd controversies, at least as far as I’m concerned, for various reasons: we were just a few minutes from the venue; Crans-Montana is like a big town, where everyone knows each other and the kids can move around independently; and Manfredi isn’t the least bit interested in alcohol. Responsibilities must be sought elsewherebut now all my physical and emotional energies are dedicated to my son’s health. I am not driven by anger or a desire for revenge. And I trust that justice will take its course. Manfredi is an intelligent, sensible boy who has never given us any problems. He is interested in history, plays the guitar and loves art. For the November 1st long weekend we took a little trip just the two of us, to Stuttgart, to visit the automotive museum and to Munich to see the painting collections: it was a nice moment. And during the Christmas holidays it was a joy to see him so enthusiastic about waking up early to go skiing. Other than kids glued to their smartphones.”
We are about to end the phone call when Umberto Marcucci asks to share a final reflection: «When the new Pontiff, Leo XIV, appeared in St. Peter’s Square for the first time, both Manfredi and I were there, even if we arrived independently, to witness that historic event. And I was very struck by Prevost’s phrase about an “unarmed and disarming peace”. Here, those heartbroken boys, dead or wounded as in a war, and whose fate has affected so much, they must make us reflect on the fate of hundreds of thousands of young people like them in the event of war. Because the arms race involving many European countries has only one purpose: to arm our young people in the future, and multiply those scenes ad infinitum.”
