Fabio Schifano I was scheduled to be in Italy this Tuesday to attend the match live. Champions League who plays Witches at the Milan stadium. However, in the best of cases, he will watch it on television from the hospital bed where he is admitted, amid pain and discomfort derived from the terrible event he experienced on Saturday.
That day, October 19, was his 26th birthday. And to celebrate, I had planned to travel to Milan with some friends. Before he had to play with his team, KSCT Menena Belgian fourth division match against SK Zillebeke. They won resoundingly (4-0), but the victory was expensive. Very expensive.
The local players were celebrating the victory with their fans when the accident occurred. «Suddenly I saw something being thrown from the stands. I thought it was a smoke bomb. I immediately thought that there was danger for my teammates, but also for the fans. There were children around, I didn’t want anyone to get burnedso I decided to withdraw it,” Schifano told ‘Het Laatste Nieuws (HLN)’.
It was not a smoke bomb, but a firecracker called ‘Cobra 6’, of great power, very dangerous and, consequently, illegal and prohibited sale in Belgium.
«In less than two seconds it exploded. And when the smoke cleared, I saw a lot of blood on my right hand. And I was missing some fingers,” recalls Fabio. The detonation tore off his index finger, as well as half of his thumb and middle finger. The loud explosion also sent shrapnel into his legs.
He was immediately admitted to a hospital in Bruges, where three surgeries were performed in 48 hours. “No, it’s not going very well,” Fabio Schifano acknowledged to ‘VRT’. Almost two days ago, after leaving the operating room, I don’t sleep or eat . “I think they did three or four operations on me.”
The young man is not yet fully aware of the consequences: «I still don’t know anything, my hand is bandaged. I receive medication and anesthesia intravenous 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. What is clear to him is that his life will change from now on: “I will not be able to return to my job in construction and I will never be able to do kickboxing again.”
«The fan involved is a 21 year old young manWevelgem (Flanders). “The police detained him after the match and wrote a report for involuntary assault and battery,” a KSCT Menen stadium official told ‘VRT’. Shortly afterward he was released and now the prosecutor’s office must decide whether to file charges against him.
Furthermore, the police also submitted a report to the match referee. The latter can bring the matter before the Belgian Football Federation in case the suspected fan could also be subject to a sanction, such as being banned from entering stadiums.
Fabio Schifano had the detail of contacting that follower who launched the firecracker: «I called him to tell him that I don’t hold a grudge».
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