The story of Alejandro, the 13-year-old boy in Spain who has saved his mother's life twice

They look at each other with pride, they embrace, they kiss... It is a very close mother-son bond, as if the umbilical cord, severed 13 years ago, remained intact. She, Monica Galilea, brought him into the world, but he, Alejandro Lopez de Murillas Galilea, barely a teenager, has given her life, literally, and twice.

The case has not been forgotten at SOS Rioja, as was recalled a few days ago by some of the professionals who went to CEIP Varia school, in the Varea neighbourhood of Logroño, to give pupils a presentation of the course '112 Emergencies in Schools', an educational project to promote what to do.

Alejandro had also previously participated in the course at his school, Maristas, and was able to take advantage of the classes to save the life of his mother, who he had already saved from the risk of a lethal coma when he was only three years old, as both mother and son told Diario La Rioja, a sister newspaper of SUR.

Alejandro is shy and finds it hard to open up. His gaze, in the first moments, does not stray from the camera. Monica is diabetic and a sudden drop in her blood sugar a decade ago almost proved fatal.

"He was only three years old at the time, and when he couldn't wake me up, he phoned my mother, who was the one who phoned 112, and his other grandmother, to get them to come quickly. Everything was solved thanks to him, he saved my life," she says, hugging her son, the first of several during the brief interview.

Alejandro becomes more confident and tells his version, based on some faint recollections and what he has been told. "Yes, I was very young and I think I was very nervous at the time, so while I was waiting for them to come and help my mother, I watched TV to relax a bit."

Years later, at his school, Alejandro, like the rest of his primary school classmates, took part in the '112 Emergencies in Schools' project promoted by the regional ministry of health and social policies, through the sub-directorate general for emergencies and civil protection.

"They came to give us a course that consisted of telling us that whenever there was a problem concerning an illness, accident or something bad, we should call a recommended number, which was 112. They explained to us how it worked, what it was for and how it could help us. They also showed us some videos with examples of accidents and illnesses," recalls the teenager, who four years ago, in the middle of the pandemic, and still a child, was subjected to a new test of responsibility.

"It was in 2020, and it was just the two of us at home, because my husband was working. I checked my blood sugar, I took a shot, we ate and I laid down on the sofa for a while, but I fell asleep so fast that I had a sugar crash and I didn't know anything about it," recalls Monica, before handing over the spotlight to her son.

"I was doing some homework that had been sent to me and when I finished, I picked up my mobile phone and started watching YouTube and things like that. As my mother told me to wake her up at a certain time, I went to wake her, but she didn't respond. I called her several times, but she didn't answer and I started to worry," explains the minor. "As I'm a bit nervous and I was afraid of not knowing how to answer the doctors' questions, I first called my grandmother, who told me that she would call the ambulance. She told me to put a damp cloth on my mother's forehead and put a little sugar in her mouth, so that's what I did. I stayed with my mother while waiting for 112 to call me. They phoned immediately and I gave them the location, and they asked me to open the door as soon as they arrived. By this time, my father and grandmother were already on their way to our house," he explains, adding, slightly embarrassed, "I think I remember that everything was sorted out when they arrived."

Her son's punch line brings out a motherly laugh. "Hahahahaha, if it hadn't been resolved I wouldn't be here, but of course he doesn't remember well because he was 10 years old," says Monica, who is aware that she is still in this world because of her son: "The 112 emergency services who came to attend me told me straight away, without any doubts, that my son had saved my life both times. In these cases of low blood sugar, which are much more dangerous than high blood sugar, because it goes up gradually, you can go into a coma. I wear glucose sensors, but that day it didn't work. Thank goodness I had my other sensor by my side, my guardian angel," says the proud woman, adding, with a kiss to her son, that "although it hasn't happened to me in the last four years and we hope it doesn't, I know that if it does, he would save me again".