Like that February 24, day 1 of the conflicts in Ukraine, when he was awakened by the explosions, Mattia Gozzoa 33-year-old coach from Turin, continues to open his eyes at 4.30 and when he hears an airplane his breathing stops “it’s automatic, I remember those moments with precision. But immediately afterwards I also remember that I am far away and that fear before or then it will pass “.
Now he is in Turin, safely, with his wife Laryssa and their 11-year-old daughter and they are waiting for all the necessary documents, but the mind often goes back to that Thursday morning when they were in the bed of their house, right in Irpin, “and we were awakened by the sounds of bombs. We were 20 kilometers from Kiev and the sky was dark. You could only see the flashes, then the crashes of bombs and airplanes. We would not have seen a single missile arrive, we had to go away”.
That morning their lives, like that of thousands of people, were turned upside down. In Kiev, years ago, Mattia Gozzo met her love by meeting his future wife Laryssa, 35, during a business trip, he returned to marry her and they became a family. In Irpin he also crowned his professional dream: two years ago he opened Atletico Tricolore, a football academy for young promises, just as he was, who years ago also played in the ranks of the Piedmontese national team.
When did you decide to leave?
“Already at 5 o’clock on that Thursday. The trains were all full or canceled. A bus left in the afternoon, we could not miss it. In Kiev there were already tanks that did not let them pass. We packed the suitcases, inside just the necessary materials. to overcome the cold of those days, we bought some food for my wife’s parents who wanted to stay in Irpin. They then ran away with some neighbors to take refuge in the countryside. We hear them on the phone, they are fine “.
Four days to leave Ukraine on foot, hitchhiking and bus. At the checkpoints they mistook her for Ukrainian, is that right?
“The military and police forces went up twice to check if there were Ukrainians on the bus, men aged 18 to 60 could not leave the country. Besides the women and children, there was just me and another young man and they checked us straight away. I have a face with similar features to Eastern European men. They asked me “Are you coming home?” and also my passport, I had to explain in Ukrainian that I was Italian and I was returning to take my family to safety . I was scared because I did not know what could happen and what they could want from me, it is the first time that I have ever made an escape like that, moreover in such a critical moment. The other boy? . I didn’t have the courage to turn around, but I saw my fiancée cry and I understood. “
What did you tell your daughter?
“We told her that there was a bad thing and we had to reach this bus that would take us to Italy, to my parents’ house where we would stay for a while. During the trip she almost always slept, she was serene, she felt that there ‘it was her mother and I who protected her. Now she is in Turin, she already knew the city, and she smiles. Here she has her room, like at home. I see her and she looks happy, she knows there is war but she lives in her world and I think it’s better that way “.
What remains of your dream?
“Everything is destroyed. Already in February some parents began to take their children away from the Academy:” Let’s go to Europe, we are afraid “, they told me. I know that some are fine, or they are hidden or have managed to leave. hoped so much to succeed and now we are ready to give help to those who need it. We are in close contact with them and we are praying a lot for all our friends and for Ukraine “.