Aldo Montano had a huge scare: the Olympic fencing champion was hospitalized for anaphylactic shock after lunch at a Roman restaurant.

"I warned you," the former Italian fencer denounced, announcing the incident on his Instagram profile and speaking of "life hanging by a thread." "Another rush to the hospital. More adrenaline, fear, drugs. Once again, life hanging by a thread," Montano said, with a photo of himself wearing an oxygen mask. "I'm allergic to casein. It's not a whim, it's not a food fad, it's not an intolerance. It's a potentially fatal allergy. And yet it happened again."

"During dinner at a restaurant in Rome," he explains, "after clearly communicating my allergy, I found myself fighting for my life. In 2026, it's unacceptable that there's still such superficiality, unpreparedness, and such a gross underestimation of food allergies. When someone informs the staff they have an allergy, they're not asking for a favor: they're placing their life in the hands of those who prepare and serve that dish."

"Every time someone downplays a situation, responds casually, or doesn't follow protocol, they're putting a human life at risk," he adds. "There's no such thing as 'minor distractions' when the consequences could be anaphylactic shock. This time, I made it to the hospital. Next time, it might not be that way, for me or someone else."

"It's time," the 2004 Athens Olympic champion concluded, "that food allergies be treated for what they are: a potential emergency, not a detail to be ignored. Because sometimes, between a dinner and a tragedy, all it takes is one mistake. A huge thank you to all the hospital staff, Drs. Roberta, Annalisa, and Tiziano from the Santo Spirito Hospital emergency room, and to my courageous driver."

(Unioneonline/D)

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