The drama became a tragedy at 17pm on a Saturday that unfortunately we will remember for a long time. Piermario Morosini is dead. The boy was unable to recover from the cardiac arrhythmia that struck him around 15.30 pm, during the Pescara – Livorno Serie B match. It was the 31st minute, the amaranths surprisingly won 2 to 0 at the Adriatico stadium, when Piermario, a Livorno player, began to stagger, falling to the ground twice, getting up again, before collapsing lifeless on the pitch. These were Morosini's last feats of struggle, as he tried in vain to resist death.
Panic broke out on the pitch in an instant: the doctors present immediately gave the boy a cardiac massage, under the supervision of Professor Leonardo Paloscia, head of the Coronary Unit of the Pescara hospital, who was present at the stadium to watch the match and immediately rushed to the field of play. Morosini was subsequently transported to the Santo Spirito hospital, where he underwent ventilation and resuscitation maneuvers before intubating him. Desperate and vain attempts to save a life that only officially ended at 17pm: “When I took to the field Morosini was in cardiac and respiratory arrest, we practiced cardiac massage for an hour and a half first only manually and then with various instruments, but there was nothing we could do. – Paloscia later explained. – It is not possible to say whether the cause is cerebral or cardiac, this can only be established by a possible autopsy”. Which has already been ordered by the prosecutor of Pescara Valentina D'Agostino and which has been entrusted to the anatomopathologist Cristian D'Ovidio, to understand exactly what caused the arrhythmia.
Unfortunately, none of this will help bring this 25-year-old boy back to life, who was under contract with Udinese until January. Piermario didn't find space in Friuli, so much so that in the winter market session he had accepted Livorno's proposal, which would have guaranteed him space as well as an important showcase in a blue key. In fact, Morosini had been part of Casiraghi's Under 21 team, with whom he had participated in the 2009 European Championship held in Sweden, and in his heart he dreamed of one day being part of the senior national team. Born in Bergamo on 5 July 1986, Piermario was a huge fan of Atalanta, the club where he grew up in football. He was talented, but his life had certainly not been generous with him: in 2001, at the age of only 15, he lost his mother Camilla, and two years later also his father Aldo. As if that weren't enough, his disabled brother also died shortly after and Piermario was left alone with his older sister, who was also disabled. A very difficult life, which however had tempered him in his work, that world of football which today stopped for him. In fact, at 17.31, the FIGC officially announced the stoppage of all football championships, including the minor leagues, starting with Milan-Genoa, which was supposed to be the first advance of 18. The decision was made by the federal president Giancarlo Abete, in full harmony with the president of Coni Gianni Petrucci, who invited all the other sports federations to remember Morosini with a minute's silence.
After so much criticism, it is right to applaud the institutions of our football, which have shown due sensitivity towards a tragedy that has truly shaken everyone. It remains to be seen whether Morosini's death could have been avoided. There are many questions: is it possible that a professional athlete, constantly subjected to the most varied controls, could die in this way? After the cases of Vigor Bovolenta (volleyball player who died on 24 March) and Fabrice Muamba (Bolton player who fell ill on 17 March, except by a miracle), wouldn't it be appropriate to question the medical system of the sports world? Important issues, which we hope will be explored in the appropriate forums. Meanwhile, the municipality of Pescara has decided to launch an internal investigation to clarify the unfortunate affair involving the Municipal Police. Yes, because while Morosini was on the ground and the country held its breath, the ambulance was unable to enter the stadium due to a police car (!) blocking the entrance.
The attempts to track down the agents to move the car were useless, so much so that at one point a carabiniere broke through the window, so the car was removed. The doctors had to carry the stretcher by hand, which is enough to give an idea of how shameful, not to say indecent, the episode was. However, the organizational shame did not jeopardize Morosini's life: according to the doctors, in fact, the delay was irrelevant, because the player was already considered dead. Piermario left us on a cursed Saturday in April, but we like to think that he left with a smile. While playing soccer, trying to make his dream come true.
