P O L O I N T H E PA M PA S
Happy ending Family relieved with Pedrito Heguy’s long-awaited recovery By Lucas Noel
Eduardo Heguy’s son, Pedrito is going through the last stages of his recovery after having suffered a double fracture at the base of his skull in February. The image published by Eduardo Heguy himself on his social media networks on the day Pedrito finally returned home describes, as no words can do, the ordeal and anguish this traditional polo family has lived through during these months. The videos posted by @rusoheguy in May, when his son came back home, and the last week of July, when they traveled to the family residence in La Pampa, are a triumph of emotion, science, strength and faith behind an 11-year-old boy who had the entire polo community in Argentina on tenterhooks.
Pedrito’s grandparents, including Alberto Pedro Heguy (above), were happy to spend time with him during his recovery.
“And one day Pedro returned to La Pampa.” With that sentence ‘Ruso’ and his wife Paz Manau shared once again the immense joy of their loved ones and of all those who prayed for the health of one of their four children. It is the cold winter season in Argentina, but Pedrito was locked up for too many days beyond any pandemic quarantine, so there is no way to keep him still. “It is incredible how many people he has mobilized, people who knew him and many who didn’t, from here in Argentina and from many parts
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of the world. We are eternally grateful,” affirms an emotional Eduardo. Earlier, on May 1, it was an unforgettable day when he went back home to Pilar. There he was reunited with his sisters 15-year-old Pampa and 9year-old Luján, while his 17-year-old brother Cruz had traveled to England to play his first season in the high handicap. His father filmed Pedrito in the garden kicking a soccer ball with his left foot, a sign of his miraculous rehabilitation. “He walks more, he moves better, he goes out, he goes back and forth. And he is very careful, always with his [head] protector,” clarified a happy Papa Heguy. As soon as he returned home, Pedrito also began to practice some golf shots, but his daily routines were far from playful. He does kinesiology, therapy, speech therapy sessions and uses the protector at all times as a precaution. “He only takes it off to sleep. He is doing well, thank God. Much better than we imagined. Step by step,” explained Eduardo. Fortunately, that Friday, February 5, is getting further away every day. That is the day Pedrito suffered a very hard fall while playing a family polo tournament at the Chapaleufú Club in Intendente Alvear, La Pampa. The impact was extremely dangerous because he could not break away from the stirrups and fall far from the horse, but hit the ground with force in the form of a whiplash. He was rushed to various medical centers. First in the town itself, then to the city of General Pico and finally to the provincial capital in Santa Rosa. The first days were critical, with a brain operation needed to relieve pressure. He had bone fractures in the base of his skull and remained in a medicallyinduced coma for more than a week. Subsequently, he was transferred in a medical plane to Austral hospital, in the town of Pilar, province of Buenos Aires. And some time later, in a second stage of rehabilitation was moved to the Fleni sanatorium in Escobar. He stayed there until the long-awaited return home 84 days after the accident. Throughout this process, there were daily prayer chains from family, friends, relatives and sports colleagues all over the world. An enormous amount
