It has been confirmed that Arsenal’s Pablo Mari will be ruled out of action for two months after being stabbed in the Milan attack.
A 46 year-old man picked up a knife in one of the shelves in a shopping mall in Milan and stabbed six people who sustained severe injuries including Pablo Mari.
Out of the six victims of the attack, five people were airlifted to the hospital while one person was confirmed dead at the spot.
The deceased is said to be a cashier at the shopping mall who sustained severe and deep injuries leading to his quick demise.
According to reports, Pablo Mari survive the attack due to his height.
The 6-feet 4-inches Arsenal and Serie A defender, who was with his son and wife Veronica Chapon in the shopping mall was taken to the hospital after the attack.
It was confirmed that Pablo Mari sustained an injury to his back during the attack. Although he was conscious when taken to the hospital, he had to undergo surgery on his back a day after the attack.
Pablo Mari will be ruled out for one month as he continues to recover from the surgical operation.
Milan’s Niguarda hospital said on Friday its trauma team had carried out surgery to reconstruct two injured muscles in Mari’s back.
Surgeon Alberto Chiara revealed to Sky Italy the belly muscles were stitched back together and Mari can return to work in two months.
“I fear it’ll be three months before he can be back on the pitch as he can start training after two and put in a big effort as he makes progress,” Monza chief executive Andrea Galliani told Sky Italy. “In sporting terms, unfortunately it’ll be more than two months until he’s back on the pitch.
“What I’ve understood from the doctor is that if he hadn’t had strong muscles in his back, the knife probably would’ve gone in more deeply and he would’ve died. Being an athlete certainly helped him in terms of having strong muscles that stopped the knife.”
Quoted in Gazzetta dello Sport, Mari said: “I was lucky, because I saw a person die in front of me.”
He later said in an Instagram post: “After the hard moment we experienced yesterday, both my family and I want to communicate that fortunately we are all fine despite the circumstances, and we want to thank all the messages of support and affection that we are receiving.
“In addition, we want to send our condolences and all our strength to the family and friends of the deceased person, and we sincerely wish that all injured people recover as soon as possible.”
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said Mari “seems to be OK”.
“I know [club technical director] Edu has been in touch with his relatives,” said Arteta after Thursday’s 2-0 defeat at PSV Eindhoven in the Europa League.
“He is in hospital. He seems to be ok. I will get a briefing now about what happened.”
Arsenal issued a club statement on Thursday night which read:
“We are all shocked to hear the dreadful news about the stabbing in Italy, which has put a number of people in hospital including our on-loan centre-back Pablo Mari.
“We have been in contact with Pablo’s agent who has told us he’s in hospital and is not seriously hurt.
“Our thoughts are with Pablo and the other victims of this dreadful incident.”
Galliani, Monza Chief Executive said: “Pablo Mari had a fairly deep wound on his back, which fortunately did not touch vital organs such as the lungs or others.
“His life is not in danger, he should recover quickly.”
“He told me about this incredible incident. He had his son in a trolley and his wife next to him. He didn’t notice anything. He then felt something painful in his back, which was the criminal’s knife.
“Unfortunately, he also saw the criminal stab someone in the throat. He saw everything that happened and it was deeply disturbing.”
Monza were expected to host Bologna in a Serie A clash on Monday. Galliani has called for the postponement of the match in respect of their injured defender.
