During the summer of 2014 a craze swept the world, everyone who’s anyone took part. Of course I’m talking about the Ice Bucket challenge. Day after day, week after week we witnessed some fantastic, woeful and downright stupid attempts. Behind all the fun and games though was the serious matter of drawing awareness to “ALS”.
“If I feel unlucky? I believe that in the World there are people more unfortunate than me. At least I’ve had the chance to play a wonderful profession”
These are the words of a 26 year old Lauro Minghelli in an interview to Corriere di Arezzo on the 28/Apr/1999, Lauro had just recently been diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease.
His name may not role off the tongue like the greats of his era Cannavaro, Inzaghi, Vieri and Del Piero, he never graced the heights of the game that they did. This however is not a tale of footballing prowess this is a tale of a man who did what he loved for a living and of a man who faced up to unimaginable hardship which he met head on with a positivity that very few of us would manage.
Lauro Minghelli was born in Sassuolo on the 11th January 1973. He joined the youth ranks of his local club in the mid to late 1980’s, now the Sassuolo of that time were a tiny insignificant club on the far fringes of the Italian game, incomparable to the club that sits in Serie A today. So it came as no surprise when Lauro outgrew the club and was snatched up by Torino as a 16 year old.
His time at Torino proved fruitful as his Primavera side including a certain Cristian Vieri won two Primavera titles. By 1993 though his path to the first team was blocked and Lauro needed to seek out other options for getting regular football. On hearing of his availability then Arezzo manager Francesco Graziani quickly snapped him up, Arezzo were starting afresh in Serie D having gone bust the previous year, it was a perfect match for a club and player looking to start anew.
Yet things did not start on the front foot for the then 20 year old as a benign tumour on his hip that was causing him a deal of pain required surgery, upon his recovery Lauro went on to become one of the teams mainstays helping the club return to the Professional leagues, after winning their Serie D group in the 1995/1996 season under the then guidance of eccentric boss Serse Cosmi.
The club was promoted again in the 97/98 season but Lauro managed to make only six appearances as the medical problems that were to blight the rest of his life began to surface. A visit to a Doctor Ferretti in Rome showed up an abnormal cyst on his spine or an Osteoma of a vertebra but it wasn’t till later in 1997 that the first real signs of the disease (ALS) began to emerge, Doctor’s in Italy first diagnosed the condition as Muscular Dystrophy but a second opinion in Minnesota, USA confirmed it to be ALS.
ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that effects the nerve cells in the Brain and Spinal cord. The disease normally goes from the Brain to the Spinal cord and then to the muscles. When the Motor Neurons die the Brain loses control of the muscles which can lead to the patient becoming paralysed.
Lauro continued to play up until the age of 26 but by that stage his body was starting to give in and he just didn’t have the strength in his arms and legs to continue and was forced to retire. “It all started with a glass in a thousand pieces, I no longer had the strength to hold it in my hand”. Doctors in Italy advised him to return to Minnesota for treatment as the American care system was more advanced than in his home country at that time.
Despite the seriousness of the condition Lauro continued to look out for the people around him, again from the Corriere di Arezzo interview “I am more concerned about others than me, maybe it is because I do not exactly realise what was happening to me, but for now I am calm”. Lauro did return to America for treatment but he was also determined also to have some fun whilst there and visited the Great lakes and Disneyland with his Cousin and Father.
Lauro’s story struck a chord around Italy and numerous clubs did their part in raising funds so that he could get the best treatment, none more so than Arezzo where Minghelli was a hero to the fans. Lauro’s condition continued to worsen and at 14:30 on the 15/02/2004 he passed away at the all too young an age of 31. The news of his passing was delivered over the sound system at an Arezzo v Pistoiese match and had such a profound effect that it stunned the crowd to silence.
To this day Lauro Minghelli is remembered with great fondness in Arezzo, a hero to the fans for his bravery on and off the field, the clubs Ultras renamed the Curva in his Honour, Curva Sud Lauro Minghelli. On the 15/02/2014 to mark ten years since his passing a book was released detailing his journey from his early career through to his courageous battle with ALS, A Testa Alta (Walking Tall). The author’s aim for the book was to “keep alive the incredible legacy Lauro has left us”.
From beginning to end his career lasted barely ten years. Lauro only appeared 53 times in five years for Arezzo but his memory lives on deep in the heart of the club, fame and fortune may never have been bestowed on him, but he enriched so many lives of the people around him. He embraced each day with a smile and his bravery in the face of such adversary is an Inspiration to us all.
His former manager Serse Cosmi once described Lauro’s ability on the pitch as akin to “A Small Marco Tardelli”, high praise indeed from a man who has worked at the very top level of the Italian game. The years will slowly pass on by and memories will gradually begin to fade but Lauro will not be forgotten by those he entertained on a weekly basis. It seems only fitting to leave you with the words that were used to introduce him as they tell everything you need to know about him.
“If I feel unlucky? I believe that in the World there are people more unfortunate than me. At least I’ve had the chance to play a wonderful profession”.
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