Andrea Bianco compares his accident to St. Paul’s fall to the ground on the way to Damascus.
Andrea Bianco, from northern Italy, was 21 years old in 1991. He was studying economics at the university, and he had everything: a girlfriend, some money, and a car of his own.
He led a carefree life, without big problems. He had no interest in Christ or the Church, until one day everything changed.
One afternoon, while driving home from the mountains with his girlfriend, he found himself facing a truck head-on. This forced him to turn suddenly, and he crashed into a tree.
His girlfriend wasn’t seriously injured, but Andrea wasn’t expected to survive. He spent 20 days in a coma in the hospital in the city of Verona, and had to remain in the facility for two months, undergoing 12 operations. They were able to save his life, but he was left blind.
He spoke to the Italian magazine Credere about those moments,
“A Carmelite came to visit me in the hospital. He said to me, ‘A blessing you have, you who carry the Cross!’ I didn’t understand anything, I wanted to say to him, ‘Take my cross, since you like it so much.’ I felt as if it were a provocation. But then we began to pray together and from that moment on we began a long journey together.”
Later Andrea began to pray the Rosary with his girlfriend Lara, who had been in the accident with him. They prayed for his recovery.
Step by step on the path of faith
The love between Andrea and Lara grew stronger and they decided to say “yes” for life.
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