A night of emotions on the surface in the second semifinal of El Desafío, which chose the three finalists who will join Rosa López in the grand finale next week. But that was not the only moment of great impact, since Boris Izaguirre demonstrated his commitment to the program by facing apnea just a few weeks after suffering a stroke.
At the beginning of the night it was announced that the Venezuelan would have to do the most complicated test, in which Mariló Montero starred in a moment of anguish last week. “My surgeon is worried, he has told me what I am doing. I have told him that I am in El Desafío,” she commented before leaving the set to prepare.
Let’s remember that just a few weeks ago the contestant had to be absent for a few weeks, although the viewers only noticed his absence during one program, because he had to be intervened urgently. Although no details have been given in the program, at the presentation press conference he did say
“During the recording of the program, Boris suffered a stroke and needed an important intervention,” Jorge Salvador told reporters. On April 13, 2022, he underwent surgery and only 15 days later he was discharged, but he did not hesitate to ask that they wait for him to continue.
“You have practically just come out of an operating room,” Roberto Leal admitted to him despite minutes and sixteen seconds that he managed to endure underwater. The contestant took this brief mark with humor and remembered another contestant who did not arrive for even a minute: “Agatha Ruiz de la Prada must be having a party.”
“The least of freediving is that it ends”, he justified himself despite the fact that all his colleagues and even the jury wanted to value what he had just done. The presenter did not hesitate to remember that, despite his short time, he is not the last in that classification, since he has been ahead of María Pombo or El Monaguillo.
“It wasn’t easy. He had just come out of surgery and what he just did shouldn’t be underestimated.” Boris, for his part, thanked his coach for the effort: “What you do is something so incredible, so admirable… because making us feel that all this is going to improve our lives and make us move forward is something sensational. I’m sorry to have failed”.
Although the El Desafío jury also valued the enormous effort of the writer and screenwriter, when it came to giving their votes they were completely impassive. The three gave him 1, something that was understandable because he no longer had a chance to reach the final and it was necessary to be fair to the rest of the contestants who did risk something.
