OLIVE PRESS
The
FINAL ROUND - To the bloody feud that killed 18 people? See page 6
Your expat
voice in Spain
VALENCIA / COSTA AZAHAR FREE Vol. 1 Issue 20 www.theolivepress.es August 26th - September 8th 2021
Summer escape 1
ANIMAL MAGIC SPECIAL
Good catch
A TODDLER has miraculously escaped injury after falling from a second floor apartment block. The two-year-old boy had climbed onto a chair on the balcony of the holiday apartment in Benidorm and slipped over the railing and plummeted to the street below. Luckily his fall was cushioned, firstly by an awning and then by a local man who tried to catch the child. The holidaymaker appeared to be completely unharmed when police arrived on the scene. It is not known if the passer-by suffered any injury. The toddler was taken to the Villajoyosa Hospital for a thorough examination to ensure he did not suffer any serious injuries.
Summer escape 2
ICE COOL
QUICK-thinking lifeguards have saved a baby from choking to death on an ice cube. The one-year-old girl was licking it to keep cool on a Santa Pola beach when she swallowed it and it got stuck in her windpipe. Despite the baby’s pulse stopping, the two Cruz Roja lifeguards used the Heimlich manoeuvre to get it out and then revived the youngster. A doctor later confirmed that the baby was fine, although her mother needed treatment for shock.
Summer escape 3
Lucky blast A RUSSIAN man had a lucky escape when he was blown off his boat after an explosion at Altea's Greenwich Marina. The 50-year-old was working on the engine when the blast threw him into the water. A mixture of gases in a confined space is believed to have caused the incident.
Phew! We survived the heatwave with a bit of help from our friends.... See page 3
DISGRACE! British expat mum, 33, sent home to die in agony after being refused treatment after 14 hour wait at A&E A YOUNG British woman died hours after being dismissed by doctors and told to go home after waiting 14 hours at a hospital for treatment. Rachael Firth, who worked as a live-in carer, sought help at Torrevieja’s A&E on August 14, after suffering days of pain. She was seen by her GP for pain in her legs earlier that week, and was advised to go to the emergency department if the condition worsened. In regular messages to her mum, she said hospital staff justified making her wait all day because emergencies took priority. After seven hours of waiting in agony with her leg swollen to twice its size, the 33-year-old eventually saw a female doctor. However, she felt her condition was not taken seriously, and insisted the doctor dismissed her after seeing medical notes that mentioned previous treatments for mental illness. In a message to her mother, Jane, a n u r s e h e r self, she wrote: “ T h e doctor
EXCLUSIVE By Simon Wade
was really nasty, said she’s read my notes and I’m mental in the head.” She said the doctor had told nurses that once she had her X-ray to ‘get her to a taxi and get her home’. In a later message (see right) she added: “The other two nurses were well shocked”. Referring to the doctor, she added: “She hates me.” The part-time charity volunteer stayed on the ward despite the bad feeling in the desperate hope that someone would eventually attend to her leg.
Embolism
Exhausted, she was eventually sent home at 3am, after 14 agonising hours in the hospital. Later that morning, her mother - who has 35 years nursing experience - realised something was gravely wrong and rushed to the nearest pharmacy for medication and advice. But by the time she returned, Rachael had slipped into unconsciousness and was completely unresponsive. Jane performed CPR while neighbours called for an ambulance but Rachael died on the floor of the lounge with paramedics also unable to revive her.
TRAGEDY: Rachael pictured with mum Jane
A Spanish neighbour confirmed to Jane that the ambulance staff told him that ‘an embolism was certainly to blame’, after assessing her symptoms. Rachael’s own son, Reece, 13, had thankfully been staying with friends that night so did not witness his mother’s death. The family is now looking for answers as to why medics failed to take Rachael’s illness seriously and to provide treatment that could have saved her life. Jane has sought legal advice, with a view to preventing such a tragedy happening to someone else.
Animal
“The way my daughter was treated in her final hours is nothing short of disgusting - you wouldn’t treat an animal that way,” she sobbed. “Money isn’t the issue, what difference would it make anyway? “I just want justice for Rachael and I want answers to the questions we have about her awful treatment - this shouldn’t happen to anyone.” Rachael was cremated at Torrevieja crematorium last week with
dozens of friends, family and colleagues in attendance. Kind neighbours had helped towards the expensive funeral costs at short notice. If Olive Press readers would like to help the family, there is also a gofundme page to help. Opinion Page 6