Spanish doctors save girl's life in flight halfway across Atlantic

The medics, based at the Virgen de Valme Hospital, were given a standing ovation by passengers after attending to the Spanish girl until the Air Europa craft was able to land.

Given that they were over the Atlantic when the patient began fitting and stopped breathing, the pilot was unable to effect an emergency landing – but the youngster turned out to have been on the right flight for her predicament, given that she was sharing it with Dr Miguel Carreño, a trainee cardiologist, and trainee anaesthetists Dr Santiago Gómez and Dr Mario López, plus Dr Antonio Guzmán del Castillo, trainee psychiatrist.

The crew, as is normally the case when a patient falls ill in flight, put out a call over the tannoy and the four young men answered.

They worked on the girl to get her breathing again and stabilise her until they were able to land at their destination in Buenos Aires – which was, in fact, the nearest airport – and an ambulance was waiting for her on the runway.

All the other passengers, and the cabin crew, gave the four young doctors a round of applause for their excellent work.

Having an epileptic fit causing her to stop breathing with no medical help for another three hours would have meant certain death for the Spanish woman, meaning the junior doctors landed in the Argentine capital knowing they had saved a life whilst off duty.