26
HEALTH&BEAUTY
César Ramírez: “Working in Africa is satisfying”
The surgeon from Malaga recently led a team to carry out surgery on 102 patients in Uganda
ÁNGEL
ESCALERA
 aescalera@diariosur.es
The patients on this
most recent trip mainly
needed surgery for
hernias in the
abdominal wall, goiter
or enlarged spleen
MALAGA. Compassion, vocation
and medicine are an inseparable
threesome for Malaga surgeon
César Ramírez, when it comes to
his profession. Accustomed to
working in the best possible con-
ditions at home, he uses his train-
ing, knowledge and altruism to
carry out operations in develop-
ing countries where there is a lack
of health care.
In recent years he has carried
out surgery free of charge in six
nations with few resources of their
own. The latest mission was in the
town of Kamatur (Uganda), where
in six days of intensive work he
and his team operated on 102 pa-
tients, providing them with a so-
lution to their health problems.
This expedition left Spain on 6 De-
cember and returned ten days later,
on 16th.
“It is always very satisfying to
work in Africa,” says Dr Ramírez,
who says the gratitude on people‘s
faces and their big smiles make it
all worth while. “We take away a
lot more from here than we give”.
He led a team of nine health pro-
fessionals, of whom five are from
Malaga. They are all members of a
Foundation called Cirujanos en Ac-
ción (Surgeons in Action).
César Ramírez says the gratitude of the patients and their families makes it all worthwhile. :: SUR
This team carried out the op-
erations in a small clinic called the
Holy Innocents Health Center,
which has had a surgical depart-
ment for the past two years thanks
to financial assistance from the
Bisturí Solidario association, of
which César Ramírez is the presi-
Eight other health
professionals
accompanied Dr
Ramírez on this trip to
Uganda
dent, the Unicaja Foundation and
Cirujanos en Acción.
Apart from Dr Ramírez, who is
the head of general surgery and di-
gestive apparatus department at the
Quirónsalud Malaga hospital, the
team who went to Uganda com-
prised Javier Moreno, a general sur-
geon at the Quirónsalud Malaga and
Regional Hospital; Sara Nicolás, fifth
year resident in general surgery at
the Regional Hospital; Francisco
Gómez, a nurse with the Andalu-
sian Health Service and clinical man-
ager of the Vithas Malaga group; Re-
beca Sanabria, nursing supervisor
at Quironsalúd Malaga; Teresa Bu-
trón, general surgeon at the 12 de
Octubre hospital in Madrid; Sonia
Trabanco, anaesthesiologist at the
Marqués de Valdecilla hospital in
Santander; Vicent Cuquerella, an-
aesthesiologist at the General Hos-
pital in Elche, and Socorro Medina,
a nurse with the Aragón Health
Service.
“We always try to form groups
with professionals from different
areas, because that is very enrich-
ing from a personal and professional
point of view,” explains César
Ramírez.
It isn’t easy to get to Kamatur.
As well as several flights (Malaga-
Madrid-Addis Abeba-Entebbe), the
team had to spend 12 hours driv-
January 3rd to 9th 2020
SUR IN ENGLISH
ing on precarious roads. Once at
the clinic, they operated on 102
patients. As the surgical depart-
ment relies on solar energy and an
alternating current generator
which frequently overheats, by
8pm they were restricted to using
just one operating theatre, while
during the rest of the day three op-
erating tables were able to be in
use at the same time.
As well as hernias in the abdomi-
nal wall, most of the operations
(80) were for goiter, an abnormal
enlargement of the thyroid gland
which is very deforming and is
prevalent in Africa. Apart from the
operations, Bisturí Solidario pur-
chased substitute thyroid hormone
for these patients, who will need
to take it for the rest of their lives.
Two young patients also under-
went surgery for enlarged spleens
caused by chronic infection. There
were no complications and they
were both allowed to go home..
When asked how he feels after
his trip to Uganda, César Ramírez
says “It was a fantastic experience
because of the work we did, the
wonderful team of people we had,
and above all the affection, devo-
tion and sincere gratitude of those
we operated on and their families”.
Something else this surgeon will
never forget about his time in
Uganda is laying the first stone for
a recovery room for patients who
have undergone surgery, which is
being named after him.
His special link with Africa is
to become even wider, because he
is now planning a grip to Ganta
City in Liberia in March or April,
to operate on more than 200 peo-
ple with goiter problems and hun-
dreds of others with a hernia who
are waiting for an operation.
“The sheer numbers of patients
show the need for us to get there
as soon as possible,” explains Dr
Ramírez.
January 3rd to 9th 2020
SUR IN ENGLISH
“We want more people to be
aware of what we can do to help”
Francisco Aguilar President of the Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer
Francisco Aguilar hopes
that more people will take
part in the different
activities organised by the
Spanish cancer association
AECC during the year
:: JUAN SOTO
MALAGA. Satisfied by the achieve-
ments so far, but aware that there
is still a long way to go to reach all
the people who need their help, the
president of the Asociación Española
Contra el Cáncer (AECC) in Malaga,
Francisco Aguilar, says he hopes
more people will think about tak-
ing part in the different activities
organised by this anti-cancer asso-
ciation throughout the year.
–What is the association’s situa-
tion at the moment?
–Right now we are waiting to move
into new official headquarters and
we are very pleased because we have
increased our local branches from
three to ten. In fact, we are about
to open an eleventh. We are busy
planning a lot of activities - in fact,
sometimes we feel we could do with
more people on the committee.
–What more do you have to do?
–We want more people to know
about us, and are devoting plenty
of our efforts to that. Our main
problem is that many people don’t
know we exist or how we can help.
They don’t know that we can pro-
vide wigs, to give one example. We
have temporary accommodation,
pyscho-oncologists, a telephone
number available all day, 365 days
of the year, to make appointments
or just look for support, because
not all the answers can be found
on Google... We are working to
make more people aware of all this.
–Don’t they receive this type of
assistance from hospitals and
HEALTH&BEAUTY 27
medical professionals? able. That means that people be-
–It is important that we have a pres- come more aware. The only sector
ence in all the hospitals and that in which there needs to be more
doctors and nurses also tell people improvement is young people, who
about us and what we do. We are show less interest. Francisco Aguilar, in a file photo. :: SUR
already in the hospital in Antequera,
are about to start in Ronda and are
waiting to bring Vélez-Málaga on
board, but it is something we have
to work on every day.
–So what exactly does the asso-
ciation do?
–Above all, it works in three areas:
helping cancer patients and their
families right from the start, and
accompanying them if something
goes wrong and they need us; pre-
vention, so that different types of
cancer can be diagnosed in time,
and lastly, funding research. We
are the first association to have
raised money for research, 70 or
80 million euros so far, and thanks
to that there have been significant
advances in lung and skin cancer
treatment and screening.
–In general, are people aware of
the importance of prevention?
–They are becoming more so, be-
cause it is rare for any family not
to have some experience of can-
cer. It is a very widespread illness.
–Are they aware of the dangers
of smoking as well?
–Yes. There has been an important
improvement in curing lung can-
cer, for which the survival rate
used to be very low, thanks to new
medications which have mainly
come from the USA and mean that
many cases of lung cancer are cur-
“Many people don’t know
that we can provide wigs,
accommodation or
psycho-oncologists”
28
SPORT
“I couldn’t say
how far I will
go as a player,
I don’t know”
Alejandro Davidovich Tennis player
The player from Malaga
looks back at a year in
which he reached the
Top 100 and looks ahead
at the year to come, with
a calendar focused on the
ATP Tour
MALAGA. You hear people talk
about the hard world of cycling or the
loneliness of a marathon runner, but
rarely about a tennis player’s holi-
days. After fulfilling his objectives
and making the Top 100 in 2019, Ale-
jandro Davidovich (87th in the ATP
ranking) is now in pre-season train-
ing, after taking a break of just two
weeks. He is preparing hard at the
Don Carlos Tennis Club in Marbella,
where another two elite tennis play-
ers are also expected to come and
train: the Italian Marco Cecchinato
(71st) and Frenchman Corentin
Moutet (83rd). Minutes after eating
and before returning to the courts,
Davidovich talked to SUR about his
great year, what he is looking forward
to in 2020 and how he has improved.
-We’re glad to have caught you in
a brief break, because you obvi-
ously have a busy diary at present.
-Yes, for two weeks now I have had
daily training sessions and physio-
therapy. I took about two weeks
off beforehand.
-Tennis isn’t like other sports, is it?
Some professional Spanish basket-
ball players stop for about three
months if they are not needed.
-I see my two-week holiday as the
reward for everything done dur-
ing the year. I went to Punta Cana
but couldn’t wait to get back for
the pre-season.
-So that’s just a tennis player’s life...
-Yes, in the end you get to like trav-
elling and going to the other side of
the world. We’re starting in Doha,
and it will be a different type of year,
playing on the ATP Tour. That’s why
I can’t wait to get started.
-Where does the nickname ‘Tsu-
nami team’ come from?
-It’s our working group’s sense of hu-
mour. They decided that the inner
strength I seem to have is like a tsu-
nami, and that’s why I had it tattooed
on my body. They say it’s as if I run
over everything that gets in my way.
I’ve become more ‘tsunami’, so that’s
what the project is called.
-Have there been any changes in
the group?
PEDRO LUIS
ALONSO
 Twitter: @Plalonso27
-I have changed my physical trainer
now. We started going to a centre in
Fuengirola called Trainme. The cap-
tain is Ignacio Batallán, and there are
four other trainers, as well as physios
and medics. We aren’t ruling out also
using the Clínica Sohail.
-How would you describe 2019?
-I fulfilled the aims I set myself, al-
though of course you can always do
better. I had a patch in the summer
when I didn’t win a match and I
wasn’t very happy then. After the
summer, though, I charged the chip
a bit after taking a mini-holiday. I
told myself I couldn’t carry on like
that because I wasn’t comfortable
about it, and I won my first Chal-
lenger and then a second one.
-After being beaten by Londero in
the ATP 500 in Hamburg, back in
July, you didn’t compete again un-
til September in Manacor. What
happened?
-I wasn’t comfortable or confident
on the court. Personally I wasn’t feel-
ing very well and decided I needed
to stop for a bit. Carrying on the
same routine wasn’t working.
-It wasn’t a bad decision, was it?
-No. Everything went better after
that.
-After two years with the seniors,
do you have a clearer idea of how
far you can go as a tennis player?
-I couldn’t say how far I will go, I
don’t know. I only got into the top
100, practically without playing my
best tennis, at the end of the year. I
think this year will be one to enjoy.
We’re having a super-strong, good
pre-season.
-Have you set any objectives for
2020?
-Not so far. We are concentrating on
how to improve this pre-season. Ob-
viously, I want to improve and go
up in the ranking every year.
-Which was your best match in
2018?
-I think that’s pretty clear.
-The win against Monfils (who fin-
ished in the top 10) in three sets in
the quarter-finals of the ATP250 in
Estoril...
-That’s the one. I was very excited,
wanting to enjoy it, with the stands
Alejandro Davidovich, at the Club de Tenis Don Carlos in Marbella, preparing for the season. :: JOSELE
full and I saw numerous possibilities
during the game, although I lost two
set balls in the first and missed out.
In the second I was just as excited
about playing and in the third I just
did it, although it was very close.
-Did you also enjoyed matches like
the one in Marbella, or that Chal-
lenger final against Munar in Seville
knowing friends were watching
from the stands?
-Yes. I always say that playing in
Andalucía, where I grew up, means
my whole family and my friends
can come and watch me. It’s an ex-
tra motivation.
-What did you feel when you won
your first Challenger?
-It took three thorns out of my spine
(referring to the sub-championships).
When I won in Seville the last final
had been the week before, with 0-4
in favour of Sonego in the tie break
in the third set. That one just escaped
me. Against Munar I was 6-2 down
almost without placing a ball, and
told myself I didn’t want to lose an-
other final. I evolved during the game
and played one of my best levels of
tennis ever.
-On the negative side, you deliber-
ately hit two balls out in the final
tie break against Horansky in a
Challenger match in Barcelona. Do
you regret that?
-I just lost my head. We got ahead of
ourselves in going to play there, be-
cause I was preparing for a month on
a fast surface in the season. As I was
in good form we decided we would
go and play, but the anxiety of want-
ing to win quickly and the frustra-
tion of that match produced a Davi-
dovich who wasn’t himself. So yes,
I regret that part of it, but tennis is
an emotional sport and sometimes
you can control your emotions and
sometimes you can’t.
-What have you learned as a tennis
player in these two years with the
seniors?
-I’ve learned that if you don’t work
you won’t win. All your rivals are
working hard to reach the top and
without work, no matter how much
talent you might have, you’re go-
ing nowhere.
-Is there anything you like about
the new regulations you have al-
QUOTES
What he has learned
“Without work, no matter
how much talent you have,
you will go nowhere”
Not competing in August
“I decided to stop for a
month in the summer
because I wasn’t
comfortable on court and
wasn’t too well”
Excitement about returning
“I went to Punta Cana and I
wanted to get back for the
pre-season; it’s going to be
a different type of year,
playing the ATP Tour”
Referring to Rafa Nadal
“Many people compare me
with him. I can’t
understand that, after all
he has achieved”
January 3rd to 9th 2020
SUR IN ENGLISH
ready followed in the ATP Next Gen
Series or a similar tournament a
year ago in Manacor?
-I entered at the last minute and I
wasn’t fully focused, but I loved be-
ing there. It was an incredible show
but it’s true that I wasn’t very well
prepared for the four-game sets. Every
break point hit me hard. There are
rules I didn’t like much, like having
a towel in the corner of the court. It
might be more hygienic, but you
hardly have time to get to it and come
back to your position (with the time
they have in which to serve).
-And the coaching?
-That made me laugh. You can de-
stress, if I can put it that way...
-Is the advice useful?
-I don’t think it’s bad, but on the
other hand it can also be a handicap,
when they try to tell you how to
stop playing badly.
-And the lack of line judges?
-That’s what I liked best. There is no
doubt that the system failed and
there was a wrong call at quite an
important point when I was play-
ing Kecmanovic. But I didn’t deserve
to win that match, anyway.
-How do you see yourself beside
these Next Gen players, with pro-
files very similar to yours and even
better performances?
-They are players who have had a
great year, with significant improve-
ment in their game. I always watched
them on TV and, as I said, if you don’t
work you don’t get anywhere. Bit by
bit I have been focusing more on
how I work rather than being the
talented lad who is Spain’s promis-
ing young player.
-What do you think it is going to
be like, participating in your first
Grand Slam without going through
January 3rd to 9th 2020
SUR IN ENGLISH
QUICKFIRE QUIZ
-What string tension is your rac-
quet?
-24 kilos vertical and horizontal.
With four knots.
-How many have you got
through this year?
-About 18 or 20.
-Who on the circuit has the best
serve ?
-Nick Kyrgios.
-The best backhand?
-Rafa Nadal. Watching him re-
cently, I have to say he is practi-
cally the best at everything.
-The strongest right-hander?
-Nadal.
-The best volleyer?
-Nicolas Mahut. I have played
him twice this year and he has
an incredible volley.
-Who moves best?.
-Diego Schwartzman.
-The tournament you like play-
ing in best?
-Brisbane, though I didn’t play, I
just went to train. I’ve been told
that Acapulco is very good and I
want to go, and among the Grand
Slams, the Australian Open, be-
cause the way they have set it up
is incredible.
-Which song is your favourite
to listen to before going out on
court?
-‘Gonna fly now’, from the film
‘Rocky’.
-Who is your best friend on the
circuit?
-David Ferrer, although he has
retired now. I also get on well
with Enrique López Pérez, who
trains with me. I like to treat eve-
rybody well, because in life you
never know what might happen.
the previous stage, in Australia?
-Well, I’m preparing for that. I have
only played one game in five sets, in
Paris, and it is going to be very hot
and humid. Before that I’m going to
play in Doha and in Auckland or Ade-
laide, so I’ll gradually become accus-
tomed to the heat.
-The draw for the first round will
also have an influence. You don’t
know who you could end up with.
-Yes. We’ll just have to wait and
see.
A LOOK AT LA LIGA
Gullibility proves costly
Rather than “judging a film by its trailer”, clubs looking to recruit in
the winter transfer window need to exercise due diligence
It’s that time of year when the
agents, friends of agents and ‘in-
fluencers’ get themselves busy as
the winter transfer window creaks
open.
If you see me on a Costa board-
walk over the next couple of weeks
please don’t let them know back
home, I’m in hiding from the
whole media circus!
It’s ironic that the selling sea-
son coincides with the January
sales in the shops, when the un-
wanted stock is shuffled to the
front of the shelf and flogged off
at a bargain price. It is the season
of panic trading.
The last significant winter sale
was Philippe Coutinho from Liv-
erpool to Barcelona for a reported
140 million euros. Look how that
turned out; he never settled and
was soon sent out on loan.
It’s amazing how often players
move between La Liga and the Pre-
mier League without making any
Torremolinos ends year with
San Silvestre fun run
More than 500 athletes
and fun runners of all
ages participated in the
charity race wearing
fancy dress costumes
:: TONY BRYANT
TORREMOLINOS. More than 500
runners took part in the fifth edi-
tion of the San Silvestre fun race in
Torremolinos on New Year’s Eve.
The popular, non-competitive street
race was organised by Torremolinos
town hall, who requested that those
taking part, whether seasoned ath-
letes or fun runners, participate in
Philippe Coutinho. :: AFP
significant impact. In truth it’s nor-
mally the Spanish clubs who do
better due diligence than their Eng-
lish counterparts.
Too often those recruiting foot-
ballers turn a blind eye to the weak-
nesses of a target and concentrate
on the perceived strengths.
A few years back, a Premier
League club asked me to get them
a video of a certain player’s last cou-
ple of games. That was easy for me.
In both games he’d performed well,
fancy dress. Runners of all ages took
part in the race, which officially
closed the town’s calendar of sport-
ing events for 2019.
One party from Valladolid who
were spending Christmas in Torre-
molinos took part dressed in top hat
and tails.
“This is the second year we have
participated. Its fun, but more im-
portantly, it will help people in
need,” Maria, one of the group told
SUR in English.
The four-kilometre route took
the runners through the centre
of Torremolinos, before heading
back to the town hall, where a
reception was held and prizes
ROB PALMER
Commentator, Sky Sports
@robbopalmer
and, on that evidence, they were
prepared to invest heavily. How-
ever, I suggested that they check
his stats. They were the only two
games he’d played for six months
due to a recurring injury and when
he’d featured previously, he’d seen
two red cards in six games.
I’d like to think I saved that club
ten million euros. The agent would
have asked for 10 per cent so maybe
I should have invoiced for similar?
Scarily, football clubs are sign-
ing footballers, often based on a
cleverly edited video where he
looks like a world beater, but he
turns out to be a panel beater.
English clubs are guilty of gul-
libility and it has proven costly.
Take Roberto, the goalkeeper who
never really made a mark in his
homeland. He must have a per-
suasive agent to get him a move
to West Ham where he has been
woeful.
If asked, I could have told Arse-
Runners wore an array of festive fancy dress costumes. :: T. BRYANT
were given for the most inven-
tive costumes.
Hundreds of well-wishers lined
the streets to show their support of
the solidarity event, which is or-
ganised to help families in danger
of social exclusion over the festive
SPORT 29
nal that Dani Ceballos and Denis
Suárez had embellished CVs. Nei-
ther would claim a regular place in
a top-three club in Spain and nei-
ther helped make the Gunners a
top-three club in England.
There are some like Roque Mesa,
Iago Aspas, José and Sandro Ramírez
who looked like bargains to be had.
They ended up like 1980s timeshare
investments, losing value from the
day they were bought.
It’s not all doom and gloom.
There are success stories. Raúl Jimé-
nez and Adama Traoré were wise
investments for Wolves, Rodri is
establishing himself at Manches-
ter City and Gerard Deulofeu is
regularly Watford’s best player.
It should be noted that those
players were all signed by manag-
ers who’d worked in Spain and
therefore had done a thorough
background check.
Mark my words, there will be
half a dozen players who move
from La Liga to the Premier League
in the next couple of weeks for a
hefty amount or generous loan fee
who will fail to make a mark.
It’s like judging a film by the
trailer. They are the ‘Cats’ of the
footballing world. The promo looks
magnificent but having read the
reviews I will be giving it a big
swerve.
period. In order to register for the
race, the participants were asked to
contribute one kilo of non-perish-
able food, which was donated to
Emaús, a non-profit association dedi-
cated to helping local families in
vulnerable situations.
30 January 3rd to 9th 2020
SUR IN ENGLISH

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