Even if both are from Turin e Their life was marked by the Heysel tragedy, Nereo Ferlat and Fabrizio Landini Before today they only saw each other once escaped. Nereo, retired banking, is one of the survivors of the massacre, while Fabrizio lost his uncle Gioacchino, a restaurateur, who died at 49 years of age.
Sitting at the table of a kiosk in front of the former municipal stadium where they both saw dozens of Juventus games, they tell their story. Nereo: «I went to see the final with a friend. On May 28 we started with a Juventus Club bus. In Brussels to go to the stadium we took the metro and there we found some English fans: they were very calm, we also exchanged two words with them ». Fabrizio: «My uncle left alone. His ticket was not in the Z sector. Perhaps Brussels exchanged it in Brussels to be able to be with someone who met there ».
Nereo: «Entering the stadium, we headed in the Z sector indicated on tickets, the one reserved for” neutral “fans. In fact, next to us, there were Belgians, French and children who played ». Over two fragile networks, then sadly became known as “chicken wires”, goals from chickens, there were instead the Liverpool and Nereo fans saw this scene: “From an abandoned construction site, the British were refueling with stones and pieces of wood. All under the gaze of four to five policemen who did nothing “.
Meanwhile, Fabrizio in Turin was preparing to see the game with his wife and children: «My uncles with my cousins lived next to us. Uncle Gioacchino had called upon arrival in Brussels to say that the journey had gone well». Suddenly the party becomes drama. Nereo: «A rocket exploded a few meters from me. Immediately afterwards the British destroyed the nets and began to charge us. They attacked and laid out, waves ». Panic, the Z sector fans first tried to reach the tiny exit placed at the top and then they headed down, trying to reach the field. Here, however, they found the battles of the police on horseback, who had not understood anything about the situation. So they went down against the wall that separated the sector from the tribune trying to climb over. Nereo: “I was so crushed that I didn’t breathe anymore and I thought:” The first time I go abroad I leave us the pens “. I asked for help from Padre Pio and shortly thereafter, as if I had been a Champagne cap, I found myself above the heads of others and then on the ground, on the steps. I started to go down and, in doing so, unfortunately I could not avoid trampling on people on the ground. Since then I live with the nightmare of having helped to cause someone’s deathor. In the end I arrived on the pitch and a crocerossin gave me a drink. I knelt down and made the sign of the cross. Then I thought I had to let my family know that I was alive. So I headed for the press tribune. I recognized the Turin commentator Carlo Nesti and I implored it: “Carlo, help me!”. Nesti gave me his hands and so I went up. There I found Bruno Pizzul, who was exceptional that evening, and another journalist from a Turin radio. I asked him if he could say for radio that he had seen me and that I was fine. He accepted: so all night my wife received phone calls of listeners who had heard his message and reassured her ».
At Casa Landini, however, there was no way to know the fate of Gioacchino. Fabrizio: «On TV I saw the image of the clashes and I hoped that my uncle was somewhere else. The number that flowed in superimpression for information was always busy. Until in the middle of the night I was awakened by a scream: it was my aunt. A television troupe had told her that the uncle had died. He knew so. On the certificate that came to us it was written: death by crushing. Since then neither her nor her children have ever wanted to talk about this story. I do it because I believe it is important to cultivate his memory and that of the other victims. I have not shared everything that Juve has done in recent years, but now it is very important to inaugurate this memorial together ».
Photo by Paolo Siccardi
