He could not walk, had advanced cancer, and was alone, lying in a park in the Santa Isabel neighborhood, in Palmira, Colombia, when some neighbors found him.
He himself recounted what had happened to him: his relatives transported him from Cali to that place and left him there to fend for himself, knowing that he needs constant care.
The community, outraged, did not take long to call emergency services.
The Palmira Fire Department rescued him and took him to a medical center, where he is now receiving physical care as well as psychological support.
Authorities are already investigating the case to confirm the man’s identity, locate his family, and determine whether there was a crime of abandonment.
Meanwhile, he waits in a hospital, surrounded by strangers who have been more of a family to him than his own in recent hours.
According to a study by Javeriana University, about 400 older adults are abandoned each year in Colombia.
This is just one more of those cases — but it has a name, a face, and a story that no one should ever have to live through.