Valencia elderly man spends three days fighting for his life after falling on the floor of his home

The dramatic battle for his life began on Friday (14 August) at around 7pm evening. José Luis fell and suffered a head injury. In the midst of a heatwave and with no way of calling for help, his life was in danger.

One small detail saved his life: on the bathroom floor was a jug collecting the condensation from the air-conditioning unit's drainpipe. The elderly man managed to drink from it several times, with great effort, to prevent himself from becoming dehydrated. He also splashed water on his face.

José Luis would close his eyes from time to time and crawl across the floor in an attempt to get out of the bathroom. He fought for three days and three nights to stay alive.

His friend, renowned opera singer Isabel Monar, raised the alarm. Worried because he was not answering her calls, she went with another friend to his flat. They rang the doorbell repeatedly, but no one answered.

They decided to ring José Luis' phone number again and heard it ringing inside the flat. Realising the seriousness of the situation, they immediately alerted the Local Police.

While they were waiting for the fire brigade to arrive and open the door, Isabel got in touch with Victoriano, 86, a friend and former colleague of José Luis, who kept a spare key to the flat as a precaution in case anything ever happened to his friend. He rushed to the scene with a bunch of keys.

A few minutes after 7pm on Monday (17 August), the emergency services received a report of the emergency. Two Local Police officers went to the scene and spoke to the elderly man's three friends.

Everything suggested that José Luis might be injured, ill or dead inside the house. One of the officers tried the keys one by one until he managed to open the door without having to force it.

Upon entering the bathroom, they were met with a harrowing sight. The blue tiles were covered in copious amounts of both dried and fresh blood. Traces of blood were spread across the base of the washbasin, the bidet, the toilet and several scattered towels.

Lying on the floor, covered from the waist down with a yellow towel, was José Luis, weakened but conscious.

The police requested urgent medical assistance. Minutes later, the medical team arrived to attend the José Luis. While the paramedics were placing him on a stretcher to take him to Hospital Clínico, Victoriano approached his friend and took his hand.

"You've got off the hook this time," he said to him.

"It seems so," José Luis said.

Following his hospital admission and numerous tests, the medical team confirmed that he was in a surprisingly good state of health.

Despite having suffered a stroke during the incident, José Luis made a remarkably swift recovery. The day after the police operation, Victoriano went to visit him at the Clínico.

"Hes as fit as a fiddle," he said with relief after witnessing his miraculous recovery.

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