From a dream holiday to a nightmare. Alexander García Galas’ is a clear example of how wrong a journey can go. On February 20, 36-year-old Álex, a Basauri native and San Sebastián resident, boarded a plane with his wife to begin a movie vacation in Thailand. paradise beaches, pad thai and Southeast Asia in its purest form. But things turned out very differently: a few days after landing in Asia, the young man had to go to the hospital due to severe pain in his abdomen. This situation began a difficult process for him and his family, which the Ministry of Defense (partially) alleviated by repatriating him.

To achieve this, Margarita Robles’ department had to mobilize an A330 medical aircraft from UMAER, which raises an important question:

Is it normal for a military plane to urgently rescue a tourist?

nightmare in bangkok. When Alexander and his wife, Usoa, traveled to Thailand on February 19, they probably had plenty of ideas to enjoy a few days of tourism in Southeast Asia. Admitting himself to the intensive care unit of a hospital in Bangkok was not something that was in his plans. Days after landing in Thailand, Álex nevertheless began to experience severe discomfort in his abdomen, “excruciating pain,” his wife recalls, forcing the couple to go to hospital. On the 25th, Álex was already admitted to the intensive care unit.

Diagnosis: necrotizing pancreatitis. It had nothing to do with the “gas” diagnosed at the San Sebastián Emergency Room when the young man sought medical attention for stomach discomfort before a trip to Thailand. In Thailand, doctors decided to admit Alex to the intensive care unit in Chiang Mai. Shortly after various incidents, he was transferred to another hospital called Samitiviej in Bangkok.

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100,000 Euro guarantee. If the prospect of contracting a serious illness thousands of miles from home, with almost no family by your side, and in a country with a different culture wasn’t scary enough in itself, Álex, Usoa, and the rest of the family didn’t last long. to see how the situation gets complicated. As Antena3 explained, the couple had taken out insurance that covered their medical expenses. However, this limit of only up to 100,000 euros was soon reached and the family had to bear the costs. This was not their last failure.

Disappointed returns. Álex’s relatives tried to bring him back to Spain twice. Both without success. The first is through insurance, when his transfer to a regular airline is planned with a doctor who will be responsible for his care. The operation failed because, while boarding the pilot, he noticed that Álex was vomiting, forcing him to be readmitted.

The family appealed to the insurance company again, objected on the grounds that the policy supposedly provided for “unlimited returns” and requested an air ambulance. He was out of luck, so he undertook the enormous financial “effort” of chartering an air service on his own, along with two doctors who moved to Thailand. The result was the same. When they arrived in Asia, they decided Alex’s needs did not match those in the report and decided to send him back to the hospital.

More than 200,000 Euros. The result is two months of admission, two frustrated attempts at repatriation… and a huge bill. While all this was happening, Álex was still being accepted into Thailand; There, pneumonia was detected over time and his condition worsened until he had a “heart attack”.

Mail He points out that between the disappointing comeback attempt and nights spent in hospital, the bill rose to 260,000 euros. In order to make the nightmare more bearable and less burdensome for the family, a crowdfunding campaign was launched, which raised more than 100,000 euros.

Call to the Ministry. So Álex’s entourage decided to knock on the Defense door. They launched an SOS on April 16 WorldThey directly sought the intervention of the Aviation and Evacuation Medical Unit (UMAER). “I think they are the only people who can help us. They handle the repatriation of people in critical condition, like my partner,” Usoa said.

On its official website, UMAER introduces itself as a unit focused on the air evacuation of “casualties of Air Force and State aircraft”, but states that it is also responsible for other missions such as “cooperation with CSAR”. air evacuations” or “deployment support”. The Air Force also counts participation in missions “to protect the safety and welfare of Spanish citizens abroad” among its duties.

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While taking the glove. Days later, Secretary of Defense Margarita Robles announced that her department was preparing “the air evacuation with great caution and caution,” given its “complexity.” “This is one of the most difficult journeys to make,” the leader said, before announcing that five doctors and four military nurses would travel to Thailand by ship. Profile The defense in X mentions a “reinforced medical team of 11 people.”

“We started days ago as we always do; when there is a Spanish citizen or a non-Spanish person who needs humanitarian assistance, there is a military exit for that evacuation.” I am impressed The defense chief stressed that “the army leaves no Spaniard behind.” The medical flight would soon depart from Torrejón for Thailand.

“in certain cases”. In this case, the quotation in quotes is taken from the Ministry of Defense itself; In the statement announcing that the UMAER A330 aircraft took off for Bangkok to repatriate Álex, the Ministry reminds that the air unit generally focuses on military uses. Exceptions are sometimes made for non-Armed Forces personnel. “Its mission is to carry out air evacuation of displaced military personnel from areas of operations, although in some cases they may also be civilian personnel,” he explains.

Other precedents. Álex’s situation is not unique. There are precedents for operations organized by the Government to help tourists experiencing difficulties abroad. In 2017, for example, the State Department chartered an Airbus to the Caribbean to repatriate fifty Spaniards besieged by Hurricane Irma on the island of Saint Martin.

In April 2020, at the beginning of the epidemic, flights of military units were also used to return passengers to Spain. And in October last year, without going any further, the Defense Ministry transferred two Air Force planes to Israel to repatriate hundreds of Spaniards following an offensive launched by Hamas.

There are other cases of foreign armies rescuing Spanish tourists in risky situations, such as in Kashmir in 2010; In 2009, when Pakistan began rescuing a Spaniard stranded on a mountain, or last year when Ethiopian forces evacuated twenty tourists from Amhara.

Álex returned to Spain. As his doctors acknowledge, Álex will need “time” to recover, but for him and his family, at least part of the nightmare is now over. The A330, which was subject to medical attention deployed by the Ministry of Defence, landed in Bilbao yesterday afternoon with the young man, his sister-in-law and his mother, after a flight of approximately 10 hours. Latest information on his health indicates that he is stable and conscious, although his condition is serious.

Pictures | Ministry of Defense 1 and 2

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