This is undoubtedly the best story of this weekend of European football. Saturday, for the first match of the Serie A season, Inter Milan invited young Leonardo Bove (16 years old) to follow the match won against Monza (4-1) from a box seat.
Nerazzurri fan and football enthusiast, Leonardo Bove is one of the 115 injured in the Crans-Montana tragedy. During this New Year’s tragedy, which cost the lives of 41 people, the Italian was burned on more than 50% of his body.
First hospitalized in Zurich, then transferred on January 11 to the Niguarda hospital in Milan, Leonardo Bove was only able to return home last July, after long months of care and hospitalization.
During this period, his passion for Inter Milan helped him a lot. “Watching the team on television helped me think of something else during these endless and difficult days,” he told “Gazzetta dello Sport”. For at least two hours, I could smile, even if it was with a touch of anxiety, because some matches made me suffer a lot.
“The feeling of returning to a normal life”
Accompanied by his father and grandfather, the survivor of the Constellation experienced a waking dream on Saturday evening. He was able to follow his club’s match close to the players left in the stands or suspended and take a few photos with them.
“It was like being in an amusement park,” he described. It was an immense joy, a rebirth. After months locked in a hospital room, I found something that was part of my daily life, and it makes me feel like I’m really getting back to normal life. My life before, finally.”
