Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino has said he is "lucky to be alive" and has "an angel looking over him" after the terror attack on Borussia Dortmund's team bus in 2017. Merino was on the bus when it was targeted with explosives en route to a Champions League match.
The Dortmund bus was hit by three bombs hidden in a hedge, which were filled with metal pins and exploded as the vehicle passed. The attack took place ahead of Dortmund's Champions League quarter-final against Monaco.
Merino's account of the attack
Writing in his feature for the Players Tribune, Merino said: "I think I have an angel on my shoulder. I’m actually fortunate to be alive at all. I was 20 and playing for Dortmund when three pipe bombs went off right next to our bus on the way to a Champions League match."
He described the aftermath: "A lot of young people probably would not even believe that it happened, or how bad it was, but it marked us all. There was a deafening noise, and then I remember the bus nearly tipping over. I looked behind me and saw blood on the floor. Smoke, screams. I remember being at the hospital later that night, waiting for Marc Bartra, who had his wrist badly cut up."
The seat that saved his life
Merino explained how he avoided serious injury. "The next day, someone told me that a huge piece of shrapnel was lodged in the headrest of the seat next to Marc. My usual seat. That day, the seat was empty. My legs were feeling a bit tight, and the seats in the front reclined. So I sat up there instead, and it may have saved my life."
He added: "So yeah, I just have this belief that things happen for a reason."
Aftermath of the attack
The match against Monaco was postponed until the following day. Sergei Wenergold, a German of Russian origin, was sent to prison in 2018 after admitting to the attack.
