Felice Natalino made his debut in Serie A and Champions League with Inter. Then, in 2012, he was diagnosed with lacardiomiopatia arrhythmogenic, a genetic disease of the heart, the same one that was fatal for Piermario Morosini. Today, Felice lives with an automatic defibrillator in his chest, while studying to become a coach and runs a football school with his father. The editors of Sport Live interviewed him and inevitably there was talk of his time at Inter.

ARRIVAL AT INTER – “I was happy because they had spent so much on me (1.2 million euro): it meant that they would hold on to me, but at sixteen you don’t think much about these things. When it comes to characteristics, I really liked Samuel and Chivu who was fast, strong and good with his feet: I also liked to play the ball. Then Zanetti inspired me, also for his usefulness: I could play to the right, in the youth I had been used in midfield and as a winger. Then, Benitez was a great coach for me. He gave space to young players: he was used to English football, where young players are considered ‘normal’ and not prospects that don’t have experience. He used to let me play, Biraghi, Coutinho, Biabiany…”

THE STOP – “I was stopped after a simple stress test. It was May (2012, ed) and I remember that I was going to do the tour in Indonesia with Inter, but I didn’t travel with the team. I was not even aware of my problem, then I was training alone here in Lamezia: I was stopped only the first two months, to see if it could be a problem related to stress. It was the first week of the month and I was with some friends in a bar in Lamezia. I was sitting, when I started to feel the heart beating faster. Fortunately, at that time I was already aware of my situation, so I immediately went to the emergency room: after ten minutes I had a heart attack. I was two days in Catanzaro, where I got an implantable defibrillator, a “lifesaver” that I still have. But then I had another crisis: I was then moved to Milan with a military plane, because in Catanzaro they could not do the surgery, called ablation: they entered with a feeding tube and burn the diseased part to restore the beats on a regular basis.”

THE CHOICE – “In Europe I could have played because of a bureaucratic issue: the clubs make you sign a paper in which you assume all responsibility and you can enter the pitch. In Italy, however, there is a sports doctor who takes the burden of sending you onto the pitch. I stopped because, in any case, I would have to do my activity with an automatic defibrillator in my chest. In Germany, there was the case of a boy with heart problems who scored in the third series (Daniel Engelrbrecht, who plays with a defibrillator in the Stuttgarter Kickers, ed): But the doctor told me that if I forced the heart again I could return to the conditions of February 2013. I didn’t feel like that, and then I decided to stop.”

THE HELP OF INTER – “They helped me economically, honoring the year and a half contract that I still had. This is a gesture that some clubs would never do. I’m still in contact with them now: I hope to one day be back there as a coach or as a scout. At that time they all called me: from Zanetti to Cordoba, from Moratti to Ausilio. In the face of these things it is difficult if someone treats you badly. Inter and Moratti behaved well with me and are number one.”

BIG DREAMS – “There were so many matches where I wanted to enter the pitch, but now I only remember what I did and I’m glad about that. It would be heartbreaking to think that I could get to face Barcelona or play a World Cup final. The goal was, playing in the Champions League final, or go to the national team after having represented the youth on all levels. Then, however, the perspective changes and you start to think about health.”

Source: fcinternews.it