Staten Island Man Survives Violent Attack in Milan
A Staten Island man faced a terrifying encounter this week during a vacation in Milan, coming face to face with the city’s significant immigration issues.
Nick Peregrino was attacked on Tuesday by two North African immigrants, who stabbed him in the neck with a five-inch knife while he was carrying his luggage and valuables.
“With these loose immigration laws, it feels like these individuals come here and, honestly, it turns into a playground for violence,” he remarked. “It’s unsettling. I know there’s a major immigration problem in the U.S., but it seems even worse here.”
Peregrino, a former teacher from Monsignor Farrell High School in Oakwood, had been visiting family and friends in Italy. He recalls looking at his phone as his train approached the San Giuliano Milanese station.
As the doors opened, an attacker speaking Arabic suddenly lunged at him, slicing his neck and narrowly missing his jugular vein.
“They looked like they were up to no good, like something from a nightmare,” he recalled, visibly shaken. “I remember looking down and seeing a knife and an alarming amount of blood.”
Peregrino estimates he lost about a liter and a half of blood after the attack.
Before fleeing, one of the assailants also snatched a gold cross from around his neck, he mentioned.
Despite his injuries, Peregrino managed to make it to the train platform, where a 16-year-old boy called Italy’s emergency service, 112.
In a video captured by a bystander, he can be heard frantically saying, “I don’t want to die.”
“The ambulance took 15 minutes to reach me,” he recalled. “A few more minutes, and I might not have made it. I could feel the blood leaving with every heartbeat.”
Upon arrival at the hospital, surgeons closed his wound with nine stitches. He is expected to remain under observation until at least Saturday as doctors monitor for the possibility of a dangerous blood clot.
The two attackers have been detained, though their identities remain undisclosed, according to Peregrino.
Before they targeted him, the pair had assaulted an elderly man with a glass bottle and stolen a necklace from a woman, investigators informed Peregrino.
Italy has witnessed a significant influx of migrants from various countries since 2021, with over 157,600 undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers arriving by sea this year alone. This marks a sharp increase from the 66,000 who arrived last year, contributing to strains on public resources and causing political tensions that led to a state of emergency.
Peregrino feels that his close brush with death has deepened his faith. “I had doubts before, but now I’m certain. This experience has reaffirmed my belief. I know Jesus saved me, and I’ll always follow that path.”
He plans to return home on July 24th, feeling hopeful about his recovery. However, his mother back in Staten Island is understandably worried.
“My poor mother has been beside herself,” he said, a hint of pain in his voice.
