Sunday afternoons and matchdays are not the only moments that shape a football town. In Sassuolo, Domenico Berardi and his wife Francesca Fantuzzi stepped in to help a student who became ill on a bus, with the young man later taken to hospital in conditions described as not serious.
The couple were having lunch with friends at a restaurant opposite the bus stop when they saw the driver ask passengers to leave the vehicle. Fantuzzi, who has first-aid training and a qualification to use a defibrillator, immediately went to assist the student.
Quick facts
- The incident took place near a bus stop in Sassuolo.
- Berardi and Fantuzzi were dining with friends at the Bollicine restaurant.
- Fantuzzi remained with the student until the ambulance arrived.
- The student was transported to hospital and was not reported to be seriously ill.
- Berardi had also helped a cyclist who fell from his bike in Forte dei Marmi last summer.
Fantuzzi stayed beside the student while emergency services were called, ensuring he was not left alone before the ambulance reached the scene. Berardi was also present throughout the incident.
Matteo Bassi, the owner of the restaurant where the pair had been having lunch, said events unfolded quickly but ended without serious consequences. He praised the couple’s immediate response, saying they did not hesitate and that their intervention helped the situation reach a positive outcome.
For Berardi, one of Sassuolo’s defining figures over recent seasons, it was another moment of assistance away from the pitch. During a holiday in Forte dei Marmi last summer, he had also helped a young man after he fell from a bicycle.
The episode carries no sporting consequence, but it belongs to the wider life around a club and its city: a player recognised for his years in Neroverdi colours responding, with his family, when a local emergency unfolded in front of him.
