Pablo Mari: I was lucky because I saw a person die in front of me
Arsenal player Pablo Mari has spoken after being stabbed during an attack in an Italian supermarket on Thursday.
After a stabbing attack on the outskirts of the Italian city of Milan on Thursday, one person has died and four people, including Monza center-back Pablo Mari were seriously injured.
Police have confirmed that the suspected attacker has been arrested. It has been reported in Italy that former Napoli footballer Massimo Tarantino was among those who stopped the attacker.
“I was lucky because I saw a person die in front of me,”
Mari told Gazzetta.
“I was pushing my trolley with my child in the seat. I felt tremendous pain in my back, and then that man stabbed another guy in the throat.”
Mari joined Arsenal and currently is on loan at Serie A side Monza. Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta talked about Mari’s situation after the game against PSV Eindhoven.
"I just found out,"
he said.
"I know that [Arsenal technical director] Edu has been in touch with his relatives, and that he's in hospital, and he seems to be okay.
"But I don't know, I will have a briefing now about the situation, what happened, and obviously we will be in touch with him, and hopefully he's okay."
Monza chief executive Adriano Galliani and head coach Raffaele Palladino visited Mari at the hospital. Mari reportedly will undergo surgery on Friday.
Galliani said:
"Pablo is an amazing guy. He had the strength to joke, telling me that he will be on the field on Monday.
"I brought him greetings from president [Silvio] Berlusconi and everyone, his team-mates who would have liked to come here even though, obviously, it was not possible.”
Galliani added:
"From a psychological point of view it seems to me that there are no problems, even if I am not a doctor."
Mari's father also has told Spanish broadcaster Cope:
"They have been very bad hours. They started calling me at 8pm and my heart skipped.
"I was able to talk to my son and he told me that he was fine and that he loved us very much."
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