PISA. There will be an autopsy on the body of Cristian Ghilli, the 19 year old junior world champion of skeet, who died last night during a desperate hospital surgery to try to stop the massive bleeding triggered by a shot accidentally fired from his rifle at the end of a hunting trip with some friends in the woods of Montecatini Val di Cecina (Pisa).
The dynamics of the accident, however, are clear and can be traced back to one tragic fatality. According to what was reported to the carabinieri by his hunting companions, the young man, at the end of the hunt, was reached in the abdomen by the shot while he was collecting the shells on the ground and after tripping over a log that made him lose his balance.
The blow reached the abdomen causing a serious hemorrhage and Ghilli was transported in red code to the nearby hospital in Cecina (Livorno), where the doctors attempted an operation to save his life, but without succeeding.
Ghilli, originally from Ponteginori (Pisa), was a promising Italian clay pigeon shooting and reigning world champion in junior teams (title won in October).
Hundreds of messages of condolence arrived on his Facebook page but also from the Italian sports authorities. The Italian skeet shooting federation with the president Luciano Rossi, he wrote in a message, “he clings to the family of Cristian Ghilli, a young promise from Tuscany in Italian skeet shooting, who tragically died in an accident a few hours ago: last October the young skeet player was crowned World Team Champion and in Mixed Team, accompanying the gold with a third individual place in the World Championship in Lima, Peru, while in May he won gold in the individual, team and Mixed team competition in the European Championship in Osjiek in Croatia ».
The Confederation of Tuscan hunters recalls that the passion for hunting was passed on to the young athlete from his grandfather, the historic manager of the Federcaccia di Ponteginori: “Today – reads a note – his old friends, his association at every level and in particular the president of Federcaccia Toscana, Marco Salvadori, the president of Federcaccia Pisa, Alfonso Papa, the Confederation of Tuscan Hunters and the entire hunting and skeet shooting world, mourn the loss of a great friend, a champion, a young man who loved hunting and its values ».
Condolence was also expressed by the League’s MEP, Susanna Ceccardi, who in a post on Facebook recalls Ghilli “like a true champion”.