Tomorrow Pietro Vanni will start his final exams. But a few years ago he found himself staring at the bathroom window next to his bedroom and, for very long minutes, he thought about jumping out. Then he didn’t do it and today he tells us that “life is beautiful, also thanks to all the pain I have had to endure since I was born”. We met him in Turin on the occasion of Stories of Strength, a project dedicated to mental health which gave life to a beautiful documentary involving three Juventus fans who, in various parts of the world, managed to overcome very difficult moments in their lives also thanks to their passion for sport and for the Turin team in particular: the Canadian Hani, the Colombian Johan and Pietro, of course. The documentary lasts less than half an hour and can be viewed on You Tube.
Pietro, can you tell us your story from the beginning?
«I was born in Cattolica with Crouzon syndrome which causes craniofacial deformation. A pathology which, among many problems, causes nasal cavities to be narrower than normal. So as a child I had serious respiratory problems. I only breathed through my mouth and not my nose and it took me a long time to eat. Until I had a major operation in Paris. The first of 17 I’ve done in 18 years. I did the last one last December: it was pretty easy stuff, I just removed some excess skin from my eyelids. The heaviest and most invasive was the penultimate one, that of January 2022, also because I was coming out of the most difficult period of my life.”
Pietro Vanni with his parents as a child
Because of bullying?
«Yes, I suffered from it especially during my middle school years, because of my face. I always felt left out. My classmates went out together, I tried to join the group, but then on the weekends I always found myself alone at home. And then there was also physical violence. A friend of mine enjoyed sticking his pen into my thigh, giving me a huge bruise. I told my parents that I had fallen at the gym. But the hardest moment was when they found a note in the hands of another of my classmates. I was drawn there as a monster, next to my mother and phrases that I no longer want to remember.”
Didn’t you confide in your parents?
«No, I always told them that everything was fine. But the pain grew day after day and so one afternoon, when I was alone at home, I went out onto the balcony and started calculating how many meters away the garage which was located below was. I thought about it for a long time, but then I decided not to. Why should I give in to those idiots who tormented me? I had proven that I was much stronger than them, facing all those operations and that suffering since I was born. And above all, why should I have caused such great pain to mum and dad who had always gone out of their way to make me have as normal a life as possible? And, finally, the faith I have in God helped me a lot.”
Then what happened?
«I started talking about my problems and then high school arrived and there the relationships with my peers were completely different: they accepted me immediately. More than that, they made me feel loved.”
You are a big Juventus fan. What role did football play in this story?
«Very important. Even in the darkest moments, I knew that on Saturday or Sunday I would see Juve play on TV together with my father. And that in those ninety minutes I would forget everything. Being a fan helped me not to feel completely alone, but part of a community, of other kids who share the same passion like me. A passion so important that, without realizing it, I memorized all the matches I saw.”
Pietro Vanni with his parents today at the Juventus Museum
Meaning what?
“Every now and then we would talk about some old match we watched together with dad and I would immediately bring up the result and the scorers.”
So if I, for example, ask you about Lazio-Juventus, 2022-2023 season, what do you tell me?
«Unfortunately we lost 2-1. Milinkovic-Savic and Zaccagni scored for them, Rabiot for us.”
Tomorrow you will take your first final exam. What do you expect?
«Among the possible tracks, I felt that something could come out about the mental distress of us young people and obviously I would have a lot to say there. The biggest problem is that we feel a very strong need to talk about our problems, but for various reasons, we can’t. And instead you have to find the strength to do it. I hope this story of mine can be read and help someone.
