Juan Matute Guimón is in stable condition following emergency surgeries on May 6 and 9 to stop a brain bleed. The 22-year-old was airlifted to the Hospital Universitario La Paz in Madrid on May 5 after collapsing and falling unconscious.
“Juan’s condition today is stable,” his sister Paula Matute Guimón shared in an Instagram story post on Sunday, May 10. “He will remain under sedation for another week before they slowly start to wake him up. This will give his brain time to recover from yesterday’s surgery. We have a long road ahead, but we are embracing it with all the strength you are all giving us.”
Juan Matute Guimón competed Quantico for Spain in his first FEI World Equestrian Games in 2018. Lindsay Berreth Photo
Juan underwent a three-hour surgery on May 6 following the results of a computed tomography scan that determined the source of his brain bleed. He was transported to the Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz and underwent a seven-hour surgery a few days later to repair the arteriovenous malformation— an abnormal connection of blood vessels—found in the hypothalamus region of his brain, the website EuroDressage.com reported.
“The procedure is very unusual and involves high risks,” Juan’s father, Juan Matute Azpitarte, told Dressage-News.com. “There are very few doctors that can do this with success. We are very proud of them.”
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“Today we would like to share with you the names of the three angels that saved Juan’s life yesterday,” Paula said of surgeons Dr. Claudio Rodriguez Fernandez, Dr. Alberto Gil Garcia and Dr. Pedro Ruiz Garcia in an Instagram story post shared Sunday. “We refer to them as angels because we didn’t look for them, they somehow found us. We learned there aren’t many doctors that can perform this very unusual and high-risk procedure that my brother needed, and we didn’t even know existed. These doctors found their way to us through all of your prayers and saved my brother’s life; it was a miracle.”
On Monday, May 11, Paula said that Juan is continuing to progress post-surgery.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
