In southern Italy, in the province of Cosenza, in Calabria, Juan Ignacio Nogueras is preparing for a specialization in neurosurgery. But he has already saved a man's life: this 27-year-old Argentinian doctor showed his courage by intervening and helping an Italian man who suffered a seizure near a shopping center in the municipality of San Lucido. And for that he received recognition.
Nogueras, who arrived in Italy on October 31, 2023, embarked on his medical career at an early age. He left high school at the age of 17 and entered directly into the Faculty of Medicine at the Barceló Foundation in Buenos Aires. After graduating at the age of 24, she gained experience working in various health centers in the Federal Capital.
"I worked for two years in Argentina, both privately and publicly. Last year I worked at Santojanni Hospital as an on-call doctor," he says.
With the goal of specializing abroad, Nogueras saved all that time. After recommendations from his cousin and social media communities, he decided to do it in Italy. Despite arriving with no previous knowledge of the language, he settled in the small municipality of San Lucido, where, with the help of friends and especially the local priest, Mauricio, he quickly adapted.
"He helps all Argentines, no matter their age, the job they have, whether they are professionals or not: he lends a hand with whatever he can. He has been helping me for 30 days now, mostly with the labor issue and with the University of Calabria," Nogueras said of the priest.
Argentinian doctor Juan Ignacio Nogueras showing his degree in Medicine obtained at the Barceló Foundation.
In this town of more than 4,000 inhabitants there are several Argentines. Nogueras estimates that there are approximately 300 of them, which made their adaptation process more bearable.
His life followed the usual course of any Argentinian who left the country in search of opportunities until January 4. On his way to the gym, he came across a man convulsing as passers-by looked at in dismay. "Right in a cafeteria there was a man in his 60s on the floor. I approached the scene, notified myself as a doctor and began to do the pre-hospital care maneuvers that are dictated by the medical guidelines," he says.
Fortunately, one of the workers there was Argentinian, which made it easier for her to communicate, since she is still learning the language. "I asked him to call for the ambulance. Meanwhile, the gentleman had his dentures removed and put in a position that is called safety, which is by resting his body to the left, so that he can ventilate and wait for the compulsion to end on its own."
With the thermos under your arm. Argentinian doctor Juan Ignacio Nogueras in San Lucido.
Although Nogueras describes the situation as something common for an Argentine doctor, especially if it is in the Federal Capital, the community of San Lucido recognized him as a hero. Even the mayor, Cosimo De Tommaso, expressed his gratitude by giving him an official recognition.
"As the first fellow citizen of the community of San Lucido and in the name and on behalf of the institution that I have the honor to represent, I wish to express the deepest sense of gratitude of all citizens and myself personally for your exemplary and altruistic gesture with which, intervening with lucidity, promptness and professionalism, you helped one of our fellow citizens by saving his life," says Mayor De Tommaso in the note of recognition he gave him.
And he highlights what Nogueras did: "An action of high civic value and great altruism, of which we must take an example by virtue of the values of solidarity and civic sense on which our Republic is based."
The mayor of San Lucido presented this recognition to the Argentine doctor Juan Ignacio Nogueras for saving the life of a man in the center of the city.
"This makes you very happy, it fills you with recognition, it gives you more energy to continue, because in my case I came alone," says the young doctor while commenting that this event is also helping him to speed up his procedures to be able to work there.
After the incident, Nogueras shared his experience with his relatives in Argentina. Here are her parents and one of her two older sisters, who is an obstetrician-gynecologist. They expressed their joy at this news in posts that spread on social networks about the news.
His other sister, who works on a private boat, told Clarín that she learned the news after Juan Ignacio shared a note of recognition: "I found out and my heart exploded, that doctor, as everyone calls him, is my baby. I saw him grow and carry out that career with so much love and effort. Today, saving lives on the other side of the world. It's my greatest pride."
Regarding his future, Nogueras does not want to think long-term, but hopes that at some point he will be able to return to Argentina. "Who wouldn't like it. I think that almost all of us who come to seek a better future in another country have that desire and we don't leave because we don't like Argentina, we leave because of a lot of other factors that I think force us to choose this."
Marcelo Alejandro Blanco Gutiérrez. Master's Degree Clarín / Universidad de San Andrés
ACE