News Editor Ajda Ender /Harrisons
A newlywed fisherman is fighting for his life and his wife is missing after their small boat collided with a water taxi three months after they married.
Sean Michieli, 25, poses with wife Gabriella Querino, 26, in undated photo. He is in critical condition and she is missing after the collision with the water taxi in the Venice lagoon. Note: Private photo taken from social media. (Harrisons)
The crash happened in the Tessera Canal in the Venice Lagoon, northern Italy, at around 5.30am on 12th September.
Sean Michieli, 25, poses with wife Gabriella Querino, 26, in undated photo. He is in critical condition and she is missing after the collision with the water taxi in the Venice lagoon. Note: Private photo taken from social media. (Harrisons)
Sean Michieli, 25, from the Venetian island of Burano, suffered a severe head injury and multiple injuries across his body when the couple’s boat collided with the taxi in the darkness.
Sean Michieli, 25, poses with wife Gabriella Querino, 26, in undated photo. He is in critical condition and she is missing after the collision with the water taxi in the Venice lagoon. Note: Private photo taken from social media. (Harrisons)
His wife Gabriella Querino, 26, who was believed to have been travelling with him, disappeared following the collision and emergency crews have been searching the lagoon for her.
Sean Michieli, 25, poses with wife Gabriella Querino, 26, in undated photo. He is in critical condition and she is missing after the collision with the water taxi in the Venice lagoon. Note: Private photo taken from social media. (Harrisons)
Sean was taken unconscious to the Angelo Hospital in Mestre, on the mainland opposite Venice, where he underwent emergency surgery and was placed in an induced coma.
Sean Michieli, 25, poses with wife Gabriella Querino, 26, in undated photo. He is in critical condition and she is missing after the collision with the water taxi in the Venice lagoon. Note: Private photo taken from social media. (Harrisons)
His mother Elisa Dorizza said: “Seeing my son in that condition was terrible. The doctors said he could suffer brain death, or he might never be the person he was before. I haven’t stopped crying since. We need a miracle. I pray for him.”
Sean Michieli, 25, poses with wife Gabriella Querino, 26, in undated photo. He is in critical condition and she is missing after the collision with the water taxi in the Venice lagoon. Note: Private photo taken from social media. (Harrisons)
She said doctors had carried out tests to see whether Sean’s brain responded to stimulation but told her the results had been negative.
Elisa added: “The only thing I asked the doctors was whether my son was suffering. I begged them not to let him feel pain because I don’t want him to suffer. They assured me they had put him into an induced coma so he wouldn’t feel pain.”
Asked where she believed Gabriella might be, she said: “In the water. But I really hope I’m wrong.”
Sean, who works as a clam fisherman, and Gabriella had married on 12th June after being together for just over a year.
They had reportedly gone out that morning to collect bait for Sean and his colleagues to use during the following week’s fishing.
Gabriella had learned from her husband how to handle the boat, collect bait and fish, according to his mother.
The exact circumstances of the collision are still being investigated, although the water taxi driver reportedly told investigators that he had been unable to see the smaller boat because of the darkness.
The taxi driver is believed to have raised the alarm following the crash.
The water taxi was seized as part of the investigation, while Sean and Gabriella’s boat sank in the canal and was later located by fire brigade divers.
Firefighters, divers and Venice Carabinieri boat units have continued searching the lagoon for Gabriella.
(Harrisons)
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