A young doctor was Pinar del Río saved the life of a fisherman who had been attacked by a shark in waters near La Coloma.
Yaismel Corrada Valdés, a first-degree specialist in Comprehensive General Medicine from the Pinar del Río municipality of Sandino, did not think twice to respond to the emergency call issued by the border guard troops, after learning about the seriously injured fisherman out at sea.
Corrada, 28 years old, was not in a medical position at that time, but was involved in personal management at the Cadeca in the town of Cortés, where he works. But, despite this, he decided to immediately join the search and rescue operation.
“I decided to go help that person because I believed that I could, as a doctor, care for the patient. I took what I needed at the Medical Post and left,” story the young doctor in statements quoted by the newspaper Guerrilla.
When they left, they did not even have the exact location of the injured man and time was of the essence. The doctor says that initially he thought that the victim would be closer to the port of Cortés, but that was not the case.
“We continued the search until we reached the exact place, closer to La Coloma. There it was…”, he confirmed to the local press.
Transfer to hospital
The injured man, identified as Yordán Rivera, from the town of Galafre Nuevo, had severe injuries to his hand and also scratches on his chest.
Once on the boat, Corrada stabilized the patient by applying bandages to stop the bleeding and channeling a vein to administer saline solution. This allowed the bleeding to be controlled until its arrival at the port of La Coloma.
Once on the ground, the injured man was received by personnel from the Integrated Medical Emergency System (SIUM) and later transferred to the Abel Santamaría provincial hospital, where he underwent surgery.
According to official reports, he is in the recovery process.
For its part, already a posteriorithe young doctor from Pinar del Río asserted that he had only done “what he had to” and said he felt “grateful and honored” for helping to save the fisherman.
“It is a unique experience. I was able to learn what I would be capable of to save a life, putting my knowledge and skills ahead… And if I had to do it again, I would do it again,” he said.
Shark attacks in Cuban waters: a rare phenomenon
Due to its status as an island, Cuba has marine and coastal areas that are a natural habitat for sharks.
Experts point out that more than 50 species of sharks live in the area, although most do not represent a danger to people.
According to statistics cited by the press, between 1749 and 2014, 44 attacks on humans were recorded in the country—39 unprovoked and five provoked—with 22 confirmed deaths.
Among the most recent events in Cuba is the attack by a shark on three couples who were bathing at night on the beach of Guardalavaca, Holguín, in November 2017. The incident caused the death of a 22-year-old young man.
In May 2023, a fisherman died as a result of injuries received by a bull shark in the Puerto Escondido area, north of Mayabeque. two months beforeanother young man had survived the attack a few kilometers off the coast of the town of Majana, in Artemisa.
Globally, the chances of suffering a shark attack are extremely low.
According to figures published by The Artemiseñothe chance of being bitten by one of these animals is 1 in 3.8 million, and the chance of dying as a result of an attack is 1 in 252 million.
