The mood and expectations surrounding Álex García’s situation have taken a positive turn since he arrived at the Cruces hospital in Barakaldo and underwent surgery. The Basque tourist repatriated from Thailand on a plane from the air evacuation medical unit (Umaer) is “stable” in the critical condition in the ICU of this Bizkaia hospital complex, and the family is confident that he can recover from the acute pancreatitis that caused him. led to an extreme situation for two months.
Álex García, 36, arrived in Spain on Sunday and underwent immediate surgery at the Cruces hospital for the pathology he suffers from, necrotizing pancreatitis that involves the death of tissues in a part of the pancreas and infection of this organ. In his case, he had necrotized more than 50% of his pancreas, so his situation was extremely serious.
The doctors who operated on him on Sunday gave a positive assessment of the intervention, although they have stressed that he remains in serious condition and that the recovery process will be long. Álex García’s immediate family is focused these days on accompanying him, although his cousin, Rubén Galas, confirms that he is “upbeat”, despite the “seriousness.”
“He is in great spirits to see himself here again. On the one hand, returning has been a emotional boost for him and, of course, for the entire family. On the other hand, the operation has gone well, and within the severity, it is improving,” explains his relative.
The emergency surgical intervention at the Cruces hospital put an end to a complex operation aimed at saving Álex’s life, an operation in which the participation of Umaer has been key. The tourist from Biscay, who has lived in San Sebastián for years, had traveled to Thailand in the month of February with his wife and was admitted to a hospital in Bangkok on the 25th of that month.
His health condition worsened in the following weeks, until he was on the verge of death, and the family tried to bring him back on their own, even hiring a medical plane, although all attempts failed. In parallel, the family chose to start crowdfunding in order to raise money to cover the high costs of his hospitalization and the attempts aimed at bringing him back,
The issue reached the media and, from there, the family obtained a media speaker that allowed them to explore the possibilities of having an army medical plane, finally getting a reaction from Defense.
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, gave the green light to the sending of a medical plane, due to the “seriousness and exceptional nature of the case”, and a complex operation was launched consisting of 11 people, including anesthetists, intensivists , critical care nurses and air evacuation health technicians.
As soon as they arrived in Bangkok, on Saturday, the specialists assessed Álex García’s health status and appreciated that there were possibilities of repatriating him. On the plane, the physiological conditions forced them to change the therapeutic strategy and they opted to remove the tube that accompanied him and sedate him. The changes worked. “He arrived in Spain better than we found him in Thailand. He has been a great job,” Pilar Salvador, lieutenant colonel and doctor who treated Álex García, explained to the media. In just 48 hours from its departure from Torrejón de Ardoz, the plane was back and the young man was in the Cruces hospital.
Now, Álex faces a complicated recovery in this hospital that will take a long time. “They don’t give us any deadline. It all depends on his evolution, which is being positive. That is the important thing, and being at home it will be much easier,” concludes his cousin Rubén Galas.
