The Tragic Story of Seán Cox.Back in April 2018 Seán Cox, an Irish Liverpool F.C. fan, was punched to the ground and beaten with a belt wielded by Italian "
fans" supposedly in Liverpool to follow their team in a Champions League game. There was no provocation outside the fact that Seán was wearing a Liverpool F.C. scarf. His brother, who had travelled from Ireland with him, said later "
I bent down to Seán and, as I was bent over, I could feel a kick on the back and I lost balance, stumbled a bit, but I didn't look up, I just gathered myself around Seán."
Seán underwent major surgery after the assault to address a bleed on the brain and was placed into an induced coma by doctors.
At the trial of the man accused of inflicting the punch that knocked Seán down, and who then lashed out with his belt, Tommy Josefsen, a Norwegian Liverpool supporter, told the court he saw an "
intimidating" group of 50 or 60 people approaching from a nearby street. He said they were wearing black clothing with their faces covered, and were shouting and singing." He told the court: "
They went and approached some people that were more in the middle of the street and then it went really fast because suddenly a guy from behind with his belt knocked a person down." Mr Josefsen added: "
I thought that the belt hit the back of his head and I could actually hear things breaking."
Roma supporter Filippo Lombardi was found not guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm on a Liverpool fan. Lombardi, 21, was cleared by a jury at Preston Crown Court of the assault which left Mr Cox seriously injured.
Filippo Lombardi and Daniele Sciusco were jailed for violent disorder, and Simone Mastrelli was jailed for unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm on Seán, receiving a three-and-a-half-year sentence. Following the attack, Mastrelli had removed his balaclava, changed his clothes, and gone into the stadium to watch the match, and the next day had flown back home to Italy. “
I knew as long as I lived, I would never ever be able to get my head around that level of cruelty,” said Seán's wife, Martina, afterwards.
At home in Dunboyne, Co Meath, Martina, received the awful news: “
This was a nightmare, and I was wide awake.” Arriving in The Walton Centre in Liverpool, she was told that Seán had made it through surgery to relieve pressure on his brain and was in an induced coma in the intensive care unit. Nothing could have prepared her for seeing Seán for the first time after the attack, she says. “
This was a different Seán. A Seán who had returned badly injured from a war zone... I stared at my once happy and healthy husband now helpless in this bed in intensive care.”
Just 14 months after the sentencing of Mastrelli, Martina received news that all three men had been released from prison. “
I was devastated. I had always felt the sentences that were handed down to the three Italian men did not represent justice for Seán, but to think that they had been released before they had even completed those sentences was too much.”
The injuries to Seán were such that his care journey took him to a number of facilities in both England and Ireland. After spending over four weeks in The Walton Centre immediately after the attack, he was moved to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin for almost five months and was then transferred to the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire. About three weeks into his stay at Beaumont, Martina says, “
he grabbed my hand back. He recognised my voice. He knew me. He wanted to hold my hand. These were small but extremely significant milestones.”
Martina describes the wonderful support that the family received, both from the local community in which she and Seán had been deeply involved and from people all over the world, including Liverpool FC manager Jürgen Klopp. In a letter to Martina, he wrote: “
In a few days, Liverpool could become champions of Europe. It would be a magnificent achievement and one that everyone at the club and everyone who supports us would regard as something truly momentous. And yet at the same time, I would trade any of the glory that could come our way for Sean to get back to full health and to be back at home with you and all of his loved ones.”
Financial support has been provided through the Seán Cox Rehabilitation Trust, which was set up to help to meet the millions of Euros in costs of full-time medical care for Seán, who finds daily tasks challenging and is unlikely to walk again.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, a GoFundMe page was set up by friends and family to raise funds for the best possible care and rehabilitation.
Roma themselves donated €150,000 while Reds boss Jurgen Klopp, along with Ireland internationals Seamus Coleman and David Meyler, gave €5,000 each.
"
Mr Klopp!" says Peter, his voice rising higher as the topic turns towards the Liverpool manager. "
I met him in [
Dublin]
town in 2018 when Liverpool played the friendly.
That friendly was a match held on April 12, 2019, between a Liverpool legends team led by Kenny Dalglish and an Ireland side managed by Mick McCarthy. As well as 27,000 people buying tickets in support of Seán's rehab, the match was a milestone for Seán in that it was his first time out of hospital in almost a year. He saw Martina and their three children, Jack, Shauna, and Emma, going onto the pitch with President Michael D Higgins before kickoff, and “
Seán's face was a sight to behold when he saw King Kenny [
Dalglish]”.
Speaking again of Klopp, Peter says "
He was an absolute gentleman. He just wanted to know everything about Sean and he was so interested in how Sean was getting on and what was going on.
"
All I can say, he was an absolute gentleman and when we were brought over to Anfield for the Brighton game last season, the 2-1 win, and Sean was brought down on to the pitch, again Liverpool just couldn't do enough for him.
"
Great people. Really, really great people."
Peter reserves much of his praise for former Liverpool CEO Peter Moore, who worked tirelessly to help the Cox family in the wake of the attack.
"
I have to say, I have met the man twice now, Peter Moore, I have to say what a lovely, down-to-earth gentleman he is," he says.
"
He and his wife, Debbie, are absolutely lovely people and Peter is still in contact with Martina to see how Sean is getting on and he is there for Sean 100 per cent.
"
The Spirit of Shankly (
A Liverpool FC supporter's group)
lads, Mono (
Stephen Monaghan)
, he is just a gentleman that would do anything for you. So myself and Martin were over for the [
ex LFC defender]
Jamie Carragher show for Sean.
"
And the fundraising as well, Liverpool Football Club, they say 'You'll Never Walk Alone'
and as an outsider, I have to say they are unreal with their fans.
"
It is a family club, there are no two ways about it. An amazing club. Over the three years, it's been an absolute rollercoaster.
"
Martina has fought for Sean to have the best care and it's been a hard three years, it really has.
"
I just want to thank everyone for keeping it out there to help Seán. It's just the way it is.
"
They were amazing people, they just couldn't do enough for us. Scousers are just amazing people. They really are.
"
Un-un-unbelievable!"
It was seven months after the Friendly match, when Seán returned to Anfield for the first time after the attack, and he met Jürgen Klopp again, as well as his footballing heroes. “
Seeing Seán at Anfield was definitely one of the high points for all of us,” says Klopp in the foreword to a book written about Seán's journey. For Martina and the children, it was also a standout moment: “
It was special, and not because of where we were, or the special treatment, or the footballing stars. It was because Seán was so happy.”
Comedian John Bishop organised another fundraiser, one in which he was joined on the stage of Dublin's 3Arena by Michael McIntyre, Dara Ó Briain, Deirdre O'Kane, Des Bishop, Jason Byrne, Joanne McNally, and Tommy Tiernan. More than 8,000 people bought tickets for the show.
“
I hadn't seen Seán laugh this much since the attack,” says Martina. “
I had to fight back the tears as I watched his face light up beside me.” It was, she says, a boost for Seán for the last part of his journey before returning home.
The event raised €465,000 for the Seán Cox Rehabilitation Trust, bringing the total raised over the previous 18 months to €2.7m. “
I almost couldn't get my head around the generosity we had been shown. I was so grateful to every single person who had played their part in making an awful situation so much better than it might have been for Seán and for us as a family.”
That's not quite the end of the story though, and this part has only come to light very recently...
Liverpool FC's former CEO Peter Moore has spoken with the Sunday Independent, via the Independent in Ireland, about his time at the club and how the hierarchy dealt with some of the major issues whilst he was involved.
One such incident was the club’s involvement in the aftermath of the tragic injuries sustained by Seán Cox before the 2018 Champions League semi-final against Roma at Anfield.
The 66-year-old provided an interesting insight on how the club decided how much and how publicly they could help the heavily injured supporter and sought legal advice on what they should do.
Speaking in Lisbon the Liverpool-born business executive said: “
There was a moment where we had to ask, how deeply do we get involved in the liability?”.
Through speaking with some lawyers, it was advised to not provide any public help due to the lack of a legal investigation into the incident.
However,
our morals were greater than the advice provided and so the posed suggestion of remaining out of the public light with help was ignored.
Ideas were thought up of how to make the Irish supporter’s treatment an important issue for supporters through direct and public actions.
These were: Liverpool Legends vs Republic of Ireland XI in Dublin’s Aviva Stadium in 2019, the use of the Seán Cox banner from the Roma away leg in the friendly against Napoli, collections within Anfield and the use of his story on the club’s social media.
His name remained within the Liverpool consciousness and it’s believed that over £2 million has been raised for the family, which should cover the medical expenses for the rest of his life.
It’s a tragic story with a morally rewarding end, fair play to our former CEO and the club for their role in facilitating the unbelievable support.
As I, myself, wrote in a follow-up piece in 2019, "
It's a terrible story, but the time and effort (
and of course the money)
which were - and are still being - given freely by people who had never heard of Seán Cox before his savage beating bears repeating, and, I think, applauding."
