When the general and digestive surgeon of Son Espases Juan José Segur, who as delt with many of the young people who have been injured by acting wildly on the balconies of the hotel establishments where they have stayed, now universally known as balconing, is called upon to send a strong message that moves them to desist from these practices, he does not hesitate for a moment: “Of those who survive the first impact, because one out of every two or three who falls dies on the spot, between 60% and 70% suffer head injuries or severe spinal cord injuries that will prevent them from walking for the rest of their lives”.
For this reason, Segura agreed to collaborate with the UK embassy in Spain to try to eradicate practices that destroy not only the lives of their protagonists but also those of their families and starred in an ad in which he came to communicate, with a clear and direct message, what could happen if you consumed a lot of alcohol and drugs and then decided to balance or jump into the pool from the balcony of your hotel.
“Stay with your friends”, this year’s campaign against balconing
Dr. Segura reveals that the campaign carried out in the United Kingdom this year to try to minimize as much as possible these cases of balconing is focused on one aspect, so that young people who have been drinking and taking drugs for a good part of the night are not left alone with this explosive cocktail circulating in their veins and altering their neurons. “The campaign has been called ‘Stay with your friends’ to try to make sure that, at least, if you are in the company of other people, some of them have the sense to keep you from hanging off the balcony,” the surgeon general points out.
Asked about how this season is going as far as cases of balconing are concerned, the surgeon says that “no one comes to the Balearic Islands thinking about jumping off a balcony” from a great height. However, he admits the difficulty of eradicating these practices basically because it is very difficult to reach those who engage in them.
Dr. Segura collaborated with the British Embassy in the campaing against balconing.
“It is very difficult to reach this segment of the population. They are young people who do not get their information from the radio or television, who do not read newspapers…”, he begins by revealing that the season has started with a strong start in terms of polytrauma attendances, which are not necessarily caused by episodes of balconing.
“There are more emergencies, as every year at this time of the year. There are many tourists and more alcohol consumption and people go out more, attend more parties and there are more traffic accidents and other causes”, Dr. Segura explains.
“It is very difficult to reach this segment of the population. They don’t get information from the radio or television, they don’t read newspapers…”
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.