The DANA that devastated the province of Valencia on October 29 with torrential rains, floods and floods has caused traffic closures on main roads that connect the Valencian region of l’Horta Sud –the most affected by the storm– with other neighboring towns, including the urban center of Valencia. Although two weeks have passed since the episode, volunteers, rescue teams and security forces are still working in the towns affected by DANA, and although many roads have recovered circulation, the density of traffic makes them impassable.
On Thursday, November 7, Sara, nine months pregnant, went into labor. Quickly, she and her partner, Pablo, prepared their things and left their house in Alicante to undertake a two-hour car trip to the Manises Hospital, where they had taken all the prenatal follow-up. However, around 7:30 p.m., near Alfafar, the road was clogged due to traffic and complications in the area. They both began to fear that they would not be able to arrive for the birth, until a Burgos Civil Guard patrol that was working in the area offered their help to make way for them.
As they advanced and entered the traffic of V-31, the agents, aware of the urgency, realized that they would need reinforcements to clear a path between the vehicles that were practically blocking the road. That’s when they decided contact a nearby team from the Madrid Municipal Policewho was just leaving Alfafar, to escort the couple. “We moved the woman to one of our SAMUR ambulances in case she gave birth before we arrived at the hospital, and the father got behind us with his car,” explains Alejandro Omar Elsanafawy, Madrid Police inspector, to 20 minutes.
“They were very nervous because they saw that they were not arriving. In fact, when they arrived at the hospital she had already dilated eight centimeters, so the delivery was going to be soon,” she remembers. “We all managed to get to Manises at the same time and, once there, we went into the emergency room and Sara They took her directly to the maternity area to give birth.” Once they made sure that the couple was okay and SAMUR-Civil Protection terminated the assistance report, the Madrid police officers returned to the residence where they were staying.
They returned to the hospital to meet the baby
The next day, once they finished their service, the 19 Madrid municipal agents and the two SAMUR volunteers who had participated in the delegation returned to the hospital to visit the family and meet the newborn. “We wanted to go see them before leaving (since they were returning to the capital on Saturday) and say goodbye to them. We bring them a stuffed animal and a balloon in the shape of a police carand we all took a photo together,” says the Madrid inspector excitedly.
Likewise, Alejandro has also stressed that the experience working at l’Horta Sud has marked the team: “For us it has been tremendous, we took away more than we left behind. They were eight very intense days, everything revolved around service and We create a lot of ties with the people of the towns that we have been working on.
Furthermore, helping Sara and Pablo has been one of the most memorable moments of their deployment in Valencia, and, as the inspector shares, the agents hope to see them again. “We have contact with them and it is likely that At some point we will return to see the little one and his parents. in Alicante. In addition, we also want to stop by Alfafar to say hello to the friends we have made there,” he says with conviction.