“My son and I, you are miraculously alive.” To speak, while the fear of what happened is still very much, it is Chiara Manfrini, 28 years old, from Bosco Mesola, in the province of Ferrara. With her little Edoardo, just 11 months old, between the end of May and the beginning of June, she was involved in two road accidents caused by some deer that crossed them suddenly hit the road in the Lower Ferrara area, smashing two cars.
The first accident
The first episode dates back to Wednesday 29 May. It’s around 9.30pm when Chiara leaves her mother’s house Saint Joseph of Comacchio to return home. She is driving along the Acciaioli road, while she is behind the wheel of her Audi A1 and her son is in the back seat, tied to the child seat. At a certain point, immediately after the crossroads that leads to Lido delle Nazioni, the unexpected happens. «I saw two deer emerge from the left» he explains. “One – he says – climbed onto the bonnet, the other hit the left side, my side, and my airbags exploded.” Manfrini continues: «Initially, when I heard the impact of the airbags, I hadn’t realized. The noise had been so loud that it had destabilized me. I thought it was him who hit me the body of the animal itself. I started seeing smoke and didn’t really understand what was happening. Then I heard the baby start screaming. I got out, grabbed him and we immediately moved away for fear something might explode, waiting for help.”
The wounds
The consequences, although the fear of having escaped the risk was great, could have been worse: «The child had nothing and after the fear he calmed down. I instead burned my arm and I suffered injuries to my neck and shoulder, while I saw the deer crossing again a few minutes later, but on the other side of the road.” «Fortunately – says the woman – I was going slowly. I had just left the traffic light and engaged third gear, otherwise I don’t know how it would have ended.” History repeats itself just under a week later, on Tuesday 4 June, again at 9.30pm. This time, on the Fiat 500, together with mother and son, there is also the father. He is the one driving, while the two are behind. «We were going home just like six days before and, to prevent what happened from happening again, we had chosen to change direction. To no longer take the Acciaioli road, but to use the SS Romea. Needless to say, it happened to us again.” Once again, the person responsible is a deer: «he came out from the left and hit our car, both the door and part of the headlight. Even in that circumstance we were going slowly, fortunately. The airbags didn’t explode there but a lot of smoke came out.” This time too, the fear for the child was great: «He cried for a few seconds, then he remained with his eyes wide open as if paralyzed. I called him and he didn’t respond. 118 arrived on site and examined him and he recovered. They told me it was from shock. My partner instead suffered two cracked ribs.”
«Containment measures are needed»
However, deer crossing the road is not an unprecedented situation: «We have already seen them several times, but it was daytime and visibility is obviously better and allows you to react differently.” Chiara Manfrini’s request now is to no longer underestimate the problem: «The Region defends itself by explaining that there are danger signs for wild animals crossing. We also tried to contact the mayor but no one responded. We ask that containment and precautionary measures be taken to avoid further accidents. Nobody says we have to cull the deer, but to make them safe. Both for their safety and that of other people. As long as there’s no dead person, it’s fine. But then I don’t want it to be too late. And the police told us that similar incidents happen every day. We need to intervene.”
