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Miguel and Rafa outside the police station in Fuengirola.
Police save the life of an elderly man following a tip-off from the UK

Police save the life of an elderly man following a tip-off from the UK

The British man was found alone and on the floor of his home in Fuengirola after apparently fainting and suffering injuries to his head and arms

A. FRÍAS / J. CANO

Friday, 10 January 2020, 13:11

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Two National Police officers in Fuengirola saved the life of an elderly British resident last week after concerned relatives raised the alarm 2,500 kilometres away.

Miguel and Rafa were on duty last Friday when they received a call for help from fellow officers in Manchester, UK. They had been approached by worried relatives of Alan, a British citizen living in the Costa town, whom they hadn't heard from for several days.

The family members had gone to their local police station and, as a result, Interpol Manchester informed the Spanish authorities, who dispatched the two officers to the man's home on Fuengirola seafront.

It was three in the morning when they first rang the intercom at the house. No one answered. However, Rafa and Miguel noticed that the lights were on in the fourth-floor apartment.

Their intuition led them to believe that the 73-year-old was inside - and they were right. After gaining access to the building, from the door they could hear a very faint voice.

"It was almost like a soft moan inside the house, so we asked the firemen to help open the door and we got into the house," said Rafa.

There they found Alan on the floor, very weak and with hypothermia. It appeared that he had fainted and hurt himself in the fall as he had injuries to his head and arms. "We covered him with a blanket and waited for the ambulance to arrive," said one of the officers.

It was then that they saw, in a photograph, that Alan, who thanked them for their help, had also been a police officer back in Manchester. Doctors told Rafa and Miguel that Alan had been lying on the ground for several days. "They told us that if we hadn't acted, he would no longer be with us," said Rafa.

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