Matteo Materazzi returns to describe his drama
For years now, Matteo Materazzi has been battling ALS: in a few weeks he will be among the first in the world to undergo an experimental treatment costing 1.5 million euros. To support it, his wife Maura has started a fundraiser. The son of former soccer player and coach Giuseppe and Marco, the 2006 world champion, spoke about his delicate situation on Mediaset’s program Le Iene with correspondent Alessandro De Giuseppe. “It all started during a soccer match, with Gianluca Scamacca: he gave me the ball and I could not give it back” began the 48-year-old.
“I could not shoot at the goal, my legs gave out,” he added. “It also happened at the airport, with my son: I took two steps and fell on the ground. From there we understood that it was something serious. We went to a professor, he looked at me, checked me and said it was probably ALS. At first I was walking, then slowly we got to the wheelchair. When you have it you have it: I was a phone addict, now I don’t use it anymore. You appreciate everything. I see the wake of a plane, it’s a new thing. You make recaptures of what life is, so time, qualitatively speaking, is superior to before”.
“Initially, I was so ashamed about the fundraiser launched by my wife, because we are a wealthy family anyway,” Materazzi then remarked: however, in my head, I then realized that I am not asking for this money for me, I am asking for a just cause, which can save so many people. I was a prosecutor for many years but I never managed my brother, because I didn’t want to be the ‘brother of’: we never had a great relationship. Simone Inzaghi is a brother to me and he always told me ‘See where you get to and you need something I’m there.’ And so is Marco. Then if I need and ask and he is not there, peace”.
“The way I am, I can’t afford to be afraid, I don’t know how long I have left to live and what I would like to leave to my children is the memory of a brave person who faced life to the end” finally said Materazzi, who gave all viewers a great lesson in dignity.
“The goal is to save the life of my husband and those who will face the same disease in the future. I am also thinking of our sons, 18-year-old Geremia and 16-year-old Gianfilippo, who have between a 15 to 20 percent chance of developing the same mutation” his wife Maura’s words in August to Corriere della Sera.
