{"id":28337,"date":"2025-07-21T16:06:47","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T20:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=28337"},"modified":"2025-07-21T16:06:47","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T20:06:47","slug":"vacation-almost-turns-deadly-after-teacher-stabbed-while-vacationing-in-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/07\/vacation-almost-turns-deadly-after-teacher-stabbed-while-vacationing-in-italy","title":{"rendered":"Vacation Almost Turns Deadly After Teacher Stabbed While Vacationing in Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Nicholas Pellegrino \/ Facebook | Inset: GoFundMe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A San Francisco teacher is lucky to be alive after a group of African migrants stabbed him on a train in Italy. Nick Pellegrino, 29, a Staten-born teacher who teaches at a Catholic school in San Francisco was riding a train through San Guiliano Milanese. Pellegrino, who teaches and coaches track at\u00a0Archbishop Riordan, was visiting family when the train had just pulled into the station when a group of North African migrants approached him. They stabbed him in the neck with a 5-inch blade, stealing his gold crucifix and luggage before taking off. According to a GoFundMe<\/a> set up for Pellegrino, the suitcase contained his laptop, clothes, and passport. The knife grazed his jugular, with Pellegrino losing around a liter-and-half of blood.<\/p>\n

Somehow, he managed to stagger off the train and ask for help. In one video taken by an onlooker, Pellegrino could be heard crying out, \u201cI don\u2019t want to die, Lord.\u201d Pellegrino said<\/a> at the time, he felt like he was dying. \u201cIt took the ambulance 15 minutes to get to me. A few more minutes, and I was a goner. I could feel, with every heartbeat, another gush of blood coming out.\u201d He recalled the horror of the moment right before the men stabbed him. \u201cThey looked like the 9\/11 hijackers. I remember looking at the floor in the train and just seeing the blade of the knife, and the most frightening amount of blood I have ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

He expressed exasperation that the attack was a symptom of a growing immigration problem in Italy. According to The New York Post<\/em>, 157,600 undocumented migrants and asylum seekers came into Italy in 2023, with many coming from regions like Nigeria, Sudan, Gambia, Morocco, Eritrea, Tunisia, Bangladesh and Syria. \u201cWith these very loose, lefty immigration laws, these immigrants come into these countries and they\u2019re running amok, trying to murder people. It\u2019s a playground for terror, for the vicious,\u201d\u00a0Pellegrino stated. \u201cI know America has a big immigration problem, but it is worse here,\u201d he affirmed.<\/p>\n

His brush with death, however, has only strengthened his faith. \u201cI used to doubt. I don\u2019t doubt anymore,\u201d he said. \u201cThis has grounded me in my faith. I know Jesus saved me, and I will always be a believer.\u201d He expressed concern for his mother, who is back in Staten Island. \u201cMy poor mother. She\u2019s been a basket case.\u201d Pellegrino\u2019s injury required nine sutures. He is set to remain in the hospital until Saturday while doctors monitor a blood clot.<\/p>\n

Prior to stabbing him, the men who attacked him had also Pellegrino\u2019s attackers had smashed a glass bottle into an elderly man\u2019s head and stolen a woman\u2019s necklace. The two men were arrested by authorities, but their names have not been released. Those interested in supporting Pellegrino\u2019s recovery can help here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A San Francisco teacher is lucky to be alive after a group of African migrants stabbed him on a train in Italy. Nick Pellegrino, 29, a Staten-born teacher who teaches at a Catholic school in San Francisco was riding a train through San Guiliano Milanese. Pellegrino, who teaches and coaches track at\u00a0Archbishop Riordan, was visiting…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":28340,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nVacation Almost Turns Deadly After Teacher Stabbed While Vacationing in Italy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"San Francisco teacher stabbed on Italian train cries out to God as migrants steal his crucifix\u2014survives near-fatal attack.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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