The helicopter crash in Bosnia: the survivor said, “It’s a miracle I’m still alive”

The four bodies are due to be returned to Ciampino Airport tomorrow. The prime minister has reposted a message dedicated to Sergeant Laura Procacci, one of the victims.

It’s a miracle that I’m still alive. “All I remember is that it happened in a split second – a violent impact.” Admitted to Tuzla Hospital with injuries sustained in the crash, Lieutenant Colonel (Medical) Flavio Favari – the third member of the Italian Red Cross (Cri) Medevac team and the sole survivor of the medical crew on board the military helicopter that crashed in Bosnia – was still in disbelief at what had happened. Favari wished to thank all those who showed him support in the hours following the accident. In particular, he expressed his gratitude to representatives of the Red Cross of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who visited him in hospital, to Defence Minister Guido Crosetto and to the national president of the Italian Red Cross, Rosario Valastro, for the support they showed during his hospitalisation.
Among the injured is Pietro Bersaglia, originally from Ischia di Castro in the Viterbo area. Pietro’s sister, Elisa, posted a message of thanks on social media for the support the family had received during these difficult hours. “I want to thank life, which once again has chosen to give us hope and has performed a new, immense miracle for our family,” she wrote. In her message, she also remembered the four victims, offering her support to their families, and wished the other injured a speedy recovery. Meanwhile, investigations are continuing to piece together the final moments of the flight and establish the causes of the crash.

Meanwhile, the four bodies are due to return to Italy tomorrow at 12 noon. The military aircraft carrying the bodies of Sergeants Simone Ruggia and Claudio Marchesi and members of the Red Cross Military Corps, Lieutenant Franco Adriano Zecchillo and Sergeant Laura Procacci, will land at Ciampino Airport.
Finally, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was also moved by the video posted on social media by Daniel Sorza, the influencer who rose to fame for his photographs of men and women in uniform. In recent days, he posted images from a parade held a few months ago, in which he had featured a close-up of Laura Procacci, a Red Cross sergeant and one of the military personnel who died in the helicopter crash in Bosnia.

“This is the most moving image and the most touching gift I have ever given in my entire life,” Sorza wrote alongside the video, which showed him placing a print of the woman’s photo at the memorial set up at the Defence Village in Rome. “Hello Laura, I didn’t get the chance to give this to you in person. But now that I’m here, I want to give you this photo that I took for you on 30 May 2026. There are wounds that time cannot heal and debts that we can never repay. We can only hold on to your memory, with our hearts filled with infinite, heartfelt gratitude.”

The video, which many have commented on with emotion and gratitude, was shared on social media by the prime minister. “Thank you for what you do,” read Meloni’s message to Sorza, “and for what you convey through your images.”

Finally, the Italian Red Cross has set up a memorial space open to the public to commemorate Lieutenant Commissioner Franco Adriano Zecchillo and Sergeant Laura Procacci, the two members of the Italian Red Cross Military Volunteer Corps who died in the helicopter crash. The space has been set up in the chapel of the Luigi Pierantoni barracks in Rome to allow anyone who wishes to do so to gather in prayer and pay tribute to the two servicemen. The initiative also aims to provide an opportunity to express solidarity with the victims’ families, their colleagues and the Italian Red Cross community.