Italian teenager hospitalized with skull fracture after defending friend in Andora

Altercation at the seaside venue

A 19-year-old tourist named Matteo, from San Mauro Torinese, sustained severe head injuries after defending a female acquaintance from harassment in the Ligurian resort town of Andora. The teenager had been spending a summer holiday along the Riviera with his family and five friends, staying at a campsite in neighbouring San Bartolomeo al Mare. On the evening of Friday, 21 August, the group visited the Malibù kiosk in Andora to spend the night. During the evening, two young men approached one of the four girls in the group and began bothering her with unwanted advances. Matteo intervened directly, asking the two individuals to leave the young woman alone and step away without physical confrontation. The intervention led to an escalating verbal argument accompanied by threats from the two men. Security staff inside the kiosk intervened to separate the two sides and instructed all individuals involved to leave the premises.

Ambush along Via Aurelia

After leaving the venue, the group of friends began walking along Via Aurelia to return to their campsite in San Bartolomeo al Mare. Around midnight, the two men from the kiosk returned accompanied by six or seven other youths to pursue the group. The attackers surrounded Matteo, launching an assault that began with a punch to the head and continued with repeated kicks and blows. During the confrontation, one member of the group tore a metal road sign from the ground and struck Matteo across the head with it. Matteo collapsed onto the pavement, hit his head, and lost consciousness as the entire group of assailants fled the scene.

Emergency response and medical prognosis

The friends immediately called emergency responders, bringing a Croce Bianca ambulance, a 118 emergency medical vehicle, and local carabinieri to the scene on Via Aurelia. Simona Donato, a professional nurse and the mother of one of the girls present, arrived at the scene shortly after receiving an urgent telephone call from her daughter.

When I arrived, I found ambulances and carabinieri. After getting into the ambulance, he lost consciousness again: once in the hospital, he was transferred to intensive care. He is currently conscious, but he will have to undergo surgery on his head for the skull fracture.

Medical teams transported Matteo to Santa Corona hospital in Pietra Ligure, where diagnostic tests revealed a depressed skull fracture and a cerebral hemorrhage. Physicians placed the teenager in reserved prognosis and scheduled surgery to treat the cranial trauma. Hospital officials confirmed that despite the gravity of his injuries, Matteo was not in life-threatening danger.

Carabinieri investigate the assault

Carabinieri from the local station opened an investigation into the assault and began gathering physical evidence from the area along Via Aurelia. Officers collected and reviewed footage recorded by municipal and commercial video surveillance cameras stationed near the Malibù kiosk and along the path toward the campsite. Investigators noted that some members of the attacking group had previous records for brawling and public disorder. By Sunday, 23 August, law enforcement officers had identified and formally reported one member of the attacking group to judicial authorities. Carabinieri continue working to identify and locate the remaining six to seven participants who fled following the attack.