Juan Manuel Serradilla, a former professor from Córdoba who had just turned 77 in the intensive care unit of the FV hospital, in Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), died this Saturday, according to his family. Serradilla was in the Asian country to take part in a group tourist trip promoted by the Community of Madrid, when on September 10 he suddenly felt ill and was urgently hospitalized for acute necrotizing pancreatitis, a disease characterized by the death of part or all of the tissue of the pancreas.
His family had launched a fundraising campaign to try to repatriate him, as his condition worsened with subsequent infections. They also requested logistical support several times from the Medical Air Evacuation Unit (UMAER), dependent on the Ministry of Defense, but never received a response.
Campaign manager and family friend, Fernando Béjar, wrote on the page shortly after his death: “Juanma left us. May the earth be light on him. We have many beautiful moments shared and a great void left. Sara, Renata and Dori, who are in Vietnam, and all of Juanma’s friends, we thank you for all the support and warmth we have received.”
During these two months, Serradilla was accompanied by his partner – with whom he had traveled – and his daughter, Sara Serradilla, who flew to Vietnam immediately after his hospitalization. Days before his death, his family had reported a worsening of his health and Vietnamese doctors had stopped recommending his transfer. Eventually, he was admitted to palliative care.
A former professor at the University of Córdoba and resident of Santander, Serradilla traveled with medical insurance that covered most of the expenses during his stay in intensive care. However, due to the duration and severity of his medical situation, the insurance reached its limit and the family had to pay hospital expenses, in addition to the fact that the policy did not provide for repatriation on a medicalized flight, which was necessary due to his delicate condition.
They managed to raise just over 170,000 euros, insufficient to pay for an air intensive care flight, as Serradilla required constant dialysis and specialist medical care during the trip.
Faced with this situation, the family asked for the intervention of UMAER, a unit that had already intervened in similar cases. In the request sent to the Ministry of Defense they explained that they were willing to assume the expenses that were within their reach, but they did not receive a response.
UMAER’s actions in other cases
The Aeroevacuation Medical Unit (UMAER) is the Air Force’s elite medical team specializing in complex medical transfers. In April 2024, the Ministry of Defense carried out a similar operation to repatriate Alexander García from Thailand, a 36-year-old Spaniard also suffering from necrotizing pancreatitis and hospitalized for a month in the intensive care unit in Bangkok. His family had unsuccessfully attempted two private medical flights before being granted military transfer.
In 2020, the Defense evacuated from Mali, on board a medicalized Airbus 310 of the 45th Air Force Group, a Spanish soldier sick with covid-19. Eight other soldiers who had remained in isolation returned on the same flight. This year, UMAER also participated in the air evacuation of several sick children from Gaza to receive medical treatment in Spain.
