Members of the 12th Brigade attend to a man who was found unconscious and alone

Official photograph of Captain De Toro

Official photograph of Private Montes

A group of soldiers from the 12th ‘Guadarrama’ Brigade have rescued a man found unconscious and alone at the Comillas Cercanias Station next to the Manoeuvre Ground at the ‘El Goloso’ base (Madrid). The events occurred on the 16th of July at around 8 a.m. when they were running within the confines of the base.

At one point in the race, they observed a man of approximately 60 years of age, motionless and with signs of being unconscious on the other side of the fence that marks the perimeter of the manoeuvre ground. After attempting and failing to establish communication with the man, Private Montes, assigned to the Transmissions Company of the Battalion Brigade Headquarters, jumped over the fence with the intention of helping him. After ascertaining that the man was unresponsive, other soldiers present joined him. Among them, Captain De Toro of the Toledo Alcázar Regiment Major Command Squad gave instructions to request help from the guard body at the base. They also notified SAMUR (Municipal Emergency and Rescue Assistance Service) and remained with him until a SAMUR ambulance took him to hospital.

From that moment on, attempts to revive him never stopped. “We took his pulse. We also talked to him, we moved his legs and at one point he even opened his eyes a little. But he was unable to say anything.” noted the captain. Meanwhile, they used his mobile to call one of his emergency contacts, specifically his sister, whom they informed of what had happened.

“At that moment there are mixed emotions. On the one hand, you are worried about what might happen to him but you feel good because you were able to help. The area is very quiet at this time of year; if we hadn’t passed by, who knows how long he would have been there?” said Captain De Toro. Despite being unable to maintain the recommended safety distance to prevent COVID-19 infection and thus leaving themselves exposed, they did not hesitate to act. “We weren’t going to leave a man alone in those circumstances”, concluded the captain.

Together with Captain De Toro and Soldier Montes, the ‘Rodas’ Brigade, Sergeant González and Lance Sergeants Morchón and Carcedo cooperated to aid the unconscious man.