Smiling and with her thumb pointing upwards as if to say to everyone 'ok, everything is fine', little Noemi 'signed' the
mural in Piazza Nazionale
, the square where on May 3, 2019 she was hit by bullets that exploded in a
Camorra shooting
.
And today, three years later, Naples wanted to celebrate with her and her family the redevelopment of the mural that had been vandalized.
'' Today is an indescribable emotion for us - said Tania, the mother of the child - May 3 is a date that has upset our lives, but seeing today this same square with so many children means that we are leaving a mark and we will continue to do it.
I don't know if vandalizing the mural was a stunt by kids or a deliberate gesture, but we will continue to say enough of this absurd way of living, of the way of the Camorra that does not belong to the real Naples ''.
Students from the 'Miraglia-Sogliano' comprehensive school and 'Villari' high school
After being injured, Noemi remained in intensive care hospitalized at the Santobono pediatric hospital for many weeks and the city found itself tightened around her and her family.
The hospital gates were lined with drawings, messages of solidarity, balloons and soft toys.
And three years later the little girl, who was then just 4 years old, still bears the marks of that terrible experience of hers.
'' We went through a long rehabilitation to get back to walking - underlines the mother - and she still has problems with her spine.
Our commitment as parents is to make sure that her sacrifices are not in vain because we don't want what happened to her to happen to another child. ''
Students from the 'Miraglia-Sogliano' comprehensive institute and the 'Villari' high school participated in the event, which took place in the presence of the city and regional institutions, the prefect Claudio Palomba, and the commissioner Alessandro Giuliano.
Girl injured in a Camorra ambush, 'her' mural redeveloped