BONUCCI: BEFORE THE CHAMPION, THERE IS A DAD

Leonardo Bonucci talks about his son and, for a moment, football can wait. On Il Fienile, the podcast hosted by Luca Zaia, he returns to 2016: Matteo's illness, the urgent operation and the hours he and Martina Maccari spent waiting to hear how their little boy was doing. The story has returned to public attention today, following the episode's release on 28 October 2026.

The first thing to say is also what lets us breathe more easily: Matteo is well today. Bonucci is recalling events from ten years ago. Alongside the fear in his family's story, there is a practical next chapter: the walk Martina undertook to support the hospital that treated their son.

That summer, after the European Championship

It was the summer of 2016. After the European Championship, during a holiday in Formentera, Matteo began to feel unwell. Bonucci remembers the first signs, the requests for help and the investigations that revealed a mass near the cerebellum and the need for surgery.

The detail that stays with us is the wait. ‘The operation was supposed to last three hours; it lasted more than seven,’ he recalls. A short sentence conveying how difficult it was for two parents to remain there, able to do little beyond trusting the people caring for their child.

Used to seeing Bonucci on the pitch, we can forget how different this situation is. In a match, every action calls for a response; outside an operating theatre, there are times nobody can shorten. His account brings us closer to that moment without any need to add details or imagine scenes we do not know.

Part of a wider conversation

The Il Fienile episode lasts over an hour and covers many chapters in his life: his beginnings in Viterbo, the change of position suggested by coach Carlo Perrone, Juventus, his defensive teammates, Italy and the night at Wembley. The chapter about Matteo enters that journey as an experience that changed the family's priorities.

Listening in context helps us see a whole person. There are professional ambitions, choices, mistakes and happy memories; there is also a vulnerability that can find words years later. This is the value of a personal account: it reveals a piece of life that a career alone cannot explain.

For Matteo today, there are other interests and a present to live in: the account shared in recent days also mentions his passion for tennis. That is an important point to hold on to while revisiting the family's story, without turning his father's memories into an announcement of a current emergency.

Martina sets off on foot

In May 2022, Martina Maccari left Lido di Volano on the Adriatic coast and followed the route of the River Po upstream to Turin: 575 kilometres on foot over 26 days. Her destination was Regina Margherita children's hospital. The initiative was called Sulla stessa strada, developed within her Nèttare project.

Her connection with the hospital had a specific reason: it was where Matteo had been treated. Martina chose to involve other people in fundraising for paediatric neurosurgery through Neuroland Onlus. The walk became a way of giving thanks while contributing to care for other children.

By her arrival on 26 May 2022, the appeal had raised over €170,000. Participation continued in the following months. On 16 November that year, a cheque for €260,000 was symbolically presented to the hospital towards purchasing an exoscope for its neurosurgery operating theatres.

What that thank-you means in practice

An exoscope is a visualisation device used in surgery. In this initiative, support had a purpose identified with the department: contributing to its technological equipment. Hospital and paediatric neurosurgery leaders attended the donation ceremony, together with Neuroland.

It matters to recognise everyone's work. Martina conceived and completed the walk; many people contributed to the appeal; doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals had supported the treatment journey. The opportunity to help other children grew out of this network of people and expertise.

The journey was later told in a four-part documentary, Sulla stessa strada, presented by Rai in 2023. Another way to discover the initiative, the places along the route and the reasons that set it in motion.

The support we can offer

This story concerns us even without a famous name. When someone faces a child's illness, we can be there with a respectful phone call, practical help or some time. Those who pray can remember that family in their prayers, allowing room for their needs and their own way of living through difficulty.

Bonucci's account leaves us with the hours of waiting. Martina's leaves us with the steps towards the hospital. Between those moments is a child who received treatment and a family who chose to support other families. That is where we want to rest our gaze: on a thank-you that became something useful for someone else.

A family can turn its experience into support for others. Continue with MATILDE, YOUR NAME KEEPS OTHER DREAMS SAFE and AIRC chocolates: on 7 November, kindness has a sweet heart!.