Angels in police uniform

AN elderly couple from Gijon (Asturias, northern Spain) returned to Benidorm last week to thank two Local Police officers who saved the man’s life while they were on holiday in the town in January.

José Manuel collapsed while walking down Levante promenade with his wife María del Carmen after visiting the local market on January 22. He suffered a stroke that left him unconscious and without a pulse.

Two Local Police officers, Cyntia and Marcos, rushed to the scene and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation manoeuvres on José Manuel for 12 minutes while they waited for the ambulance to arrive.

Their efforts paid off as they managed to get his heart beating again, thus saving his life.

After recovering from the first stroke he suffered three more, one on the promenade while they waited for the emergency medical services, a second in the ambulance and a third in the hospital.

José Manuel spent 12 days in Marina Baixa Hospital until he could be discharged and sent back home.

Meanwhile, the couple’s son obtained the phone numbers of the two officers to thank them for their help and kept them for when his father was well enough to do so himself.

As soon as he was given the green light to travel by his doctors, José Manuel and his wife Maria rushed back to Benidorm to thank the “two angels” in person, in their own words, and to invite them back to Gijon for a holiday.