Arsenal footballer Pablo Mari, who is on loan from the Italian Monza, was stabbed in a shopping center on the outskirts of Milan.
The incident happened on Thursday evening.
A 46-year-old man, who, according to preliminary data, suffers from a mental disorder, grabbed a knife from a supermarket shelf and rushed at customers.
He managed to injure six people before he was neutralized by other buyers.
By the way, one of those who helped disarm the attacker was Diego Maradona's Napoli partner Massimo Tarantino.
Together with another man, they immobilized the attacker and held him until the arrival of the police.
With his selfless actions, the former football player managed to prevent more victims, but later he said that he had not done anything special and did not consider himself a hero.
Injured visitors to the mall were taken to the hospital by helicopter, but one of the victims, a 30-year-old supermarket cashier, died on the way.
Three others are in critical condition.
Marie received a not too serious back injury, vital organs were not affected.
According to the general director of Monza, Adriano Galliani, the footballer was saved by his high growth (193 cm), thanks to which the criminal could not strike in the neck.
However, on Friday, Pablo was operated on, his damaged muscles were stitched together.
According to the official website of Monza, he will remain under observation for another two or three days, and after being discharged, he will be able to begin the rehabilitation process.
Full recovery of physical activity is possible not earlier than in two months.
After the operation, Mari posted a Twitter post in which he thanked the fans and friends for the words of support.
He assured that both himself and his family are in order, despite all the circumstances, and also expressed condolences to the relatives of the deceased cashier and wished a speedy recovery to other victims.
Earlier, the Spaniard, who was in the ill-fated supermarket with his wife and young son, said he did not see the moment of the attack.
“I was also lucky, because in front of my eyes a man died.
I was pushing a cart with a child and suddenly felt severe pain in my back.
Then I saw how he wounded a man in the throat, right in front of me, ”Marie shared.
The footballer's family and friends endured several very disturbing hours before receiving positive news from the hospital.
“They started calling me at 20:00, and my heart sank.
Veronica did not say how it happened, but said that a man died before her eyes.
She reassured us and confirmed that they were fine and very scared, ”said the father of the 29-year-old athlete.
Marie has already been visited by Galliani and head coach Rafael Palladino in the hospital.
According to them, the athlete feels good, but experienced a lot of stress because of what happened.
“Pablo is an incredible person.
He had the strength to joke: he said that on Monday he would already be at training.
I conveyed to him wishes from (club president Silvio - RT ) Berlusconi and others.
Teammates wanted to come, but of course it was impossible,” said Galliani.
He also noted that the whole team was shocked by what had happened.
In this regard, Monza even asked to postpone the next match in the championship.
On Monday, October 31, the Serie A debutant is due to face Bologna.
Marie plays in the Berlusconi team on loan, and he belongs to Arsenal, with whom he signed a contract in 2020.
The Spaniard played 19 matches for the Gunners, in the winter transfer window of this year he was loaned to Udinese, and in August he moved to Monza.
The London club also reacted to what happened to the player.
“We are all devastated by the terrible news of a stabbing attack in Italy that has left several people in hospital, including our centre-back Pablo Mari on loan.
We are in touch with Pablo's agent, who has informed us that he is in the hospital and is not seriously injured.
Our thoughts go out to Pablo and the other victims of this horrific incident," the Gunners said in a statement.
The police are investigating.