Sixteen-year-old beaten in Monserrato, parents: "We're thankful he's alive." The attacker has been identified.

It's absurd that our son risked his life due to an unprovoked attack . We thank the two friends, a security guard, and another man, who intervened to stop that boy, blinded by rage for who knows what reason, and to avoid far worse, perhaps tragic, consequences. And luckily he didn't have a knife , otherwise who knows how it could have ended.

The parents of the 16-year-old boy who was savagely beaten outside a high school in Monserrato last Thursday are still reeling from the incident and fear permanent injuries. Their son will undergo surgery for a fractured eye socket at Brotzu Hospital in the coming days.

The perpetrator of the attack has already been identified: a seventeen-year-old resident in the hinterland . "Our son knew him but had never had anything to do with him. We know that two days earlier he had been looking for him, saying he wanted to talk to him. And on Thursday, there was no exchange of words; he approached him and punched him in the face, then continued to hit him, even using a ring."

The only possible connection is a young girl, currently engaged to the 17-year-old but who had previously dated the victim , even though they hadn't spoken to each other for a long time.