TWO BULLETS MISSED THE POPE'S AORTA

45 years ago. St. Peter's Square. A 23-year-old Turk shoots four times at the Popemobile. Two bullets hit John Paul II. One in the hand. The other pierces the abdomen from the navel to the sacrum.

Outwardly, the wound didn't look like much. Inside, a catastrophe. He had lost 75% of his blood. The bullet perforated the colon, the small intestine in five places, and grazed (by millimeters) the abdominal aorta and the mesenteric artery. If it had touched either of them, he would have died instantly.

I don't want to think about opening that abdomen and seeing blood everywhere.

Five hours and twenty minutes of surgery. Half a meter less of intestine.

And a detail: the first units of blood came from the Bambino Gesù hospital, where they kept the Pope's own blood.

He survived. And I was lucky enough to meet him, so you can imagine how old that makes one… hahaha.

Bullet wounds in trauma are a monumental mess. But remember this: the bullet is not removed with a kitchen knife. That's what killed President Garfield. Most of the time you keep it as a reminder. The wound is not stitched.

In real life, a bullet means six hours in the operating room, an entire team, blood… and a lot of luck. I think that's why they were designed to kill, not to play doctor in a vet's basement. Oh, Hollywood…