Félix Guerra spent four days trapped between two walls at a farm in the north Gran Canaria area of Gáldar, he was rescued on Wednesday when another man heard his cries for help, and admitted to the Dr. Negrín hospital in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, here he is now recovering. His family say they are confident that he will be able to return home very soon, once his body returns to normal.
Residents of the Marmolejos community, the neighbourhood where he accidentally fell into a ditch, have expressed surprise at the strength of this 77-year-old retiree, who endured several days and nights unable to escape, having fallen between two walls on a farm there. Firefighters from the Gran Canaria Emergency Consortium managed to free him after a passer-by heard his cries. The septuagenarian said that he had fallen into the ditch while trying to rescue a cat.
The last time Felix had been seen was last Saturday, around lunchtime, and a missing persons search had begun, as no one had heard from him since that day. His relatives had reported his disappearance to the Guardia Civil but spending several days passed without anyone hearing from him.
Félix somehow fell between two concrete block walls, 1.8 meters high, separated by just 40 centimetres, and unable to move or extract himself there he remained until half past ten on Wednesday morning, when the local who heard him alerted the 112 Emergency and Security Coordination Centre (CECOES) of what had happened, on Calle Pío XII in the municipality of Gáldar.
Several units of firefighters from the San Isidro park, agents of the Guardia Civil from the main post of Santa María de Guía and the Policia Local from Gáldar, attended the scene as well as an ambulance from the Canarian Emergency Service (SUC) to provide assistance and basic life support.
The firefighters found that the man was semi-conscious, barely able to move, with his clothes torn from repeated attempts to get himself out of the ditch. The only solution was to knock down one of the two walls to get him out. The operation was carried out with the utmost care so as not to harm the man, who gradually regained consciousness.
The rescue was successful and the health workers stabilised Félix at the scene placing him on a vacuum mattress to take him to the ambulance, which took him to the Hospital Doctor Negrín. Felix, who fell when trying to rescue a cat, is not seriously injured and expected to make a full recovery.
