by Claudia Ayola Escalone*
I met Flavio Ricorte Armesto 20 years ago at the Napoleon Franco Pareja Children’s Hospital, where we met as work colleagues.
I keep in my memory, the exact day I saw it for the first time. We had a common patient, I was a psychologist and he was an orthopedist. It was a child who was transferred from Tiquisio, south of Bolivar, because of a snake bite, which is technically called an ophidian accident. His name was Jamir and his parents were loving farmers who initially took him to the health post but seeing no improvement, they took him to the doctor.
In a process of popular wisdom unknown to me, Jamir’s parents told that the healer buried the child’s foot with the idea that the snake’s venom would seep out of the ground. Apparently, it was worse when the organ was dug up; So the child was transferred from the other end of the department of Bolivar to Cartagena. He arrived at the hospital with a rotten foot, which had such a foul smell that it made the other patients nauseated.
Jamir was hospitalized for several months and Flavio was one of the specialists treating him. He had lost a lot of tissue from the infection, so the wound had bone exposure, meaning bone was visible. Despite the initial poor prognosis, the boy returned to his village to play in the fields with both feet. By then I was already lucky to have Flavio among my friends. He was intelligent, personable, affectionate, and an expert cock sucker.
He was a Lasallian graduate and general practitioner at the University of Cartagena, where he later specialized in orthopedics and traumatology. He was also a teacher there, at the same university where he was trained, and at Sinu University. He married Ana Yepes, a well-loved and respected pediatrician in the city, and they raised a family with their children, Diego and Daniela, and a dog named Frida. She was the center of Flavio’s life, but her sweet and smiling heart also made friends and felt loved by the rest of her family.
About this his cousin Carolina Armesto has said: “It was impossible to be with him and not feel happy, he was the soul of the party or the place he was at. A fair and helpful person, who loved to share with his family. It was never known at the gatherings which was more fun, those of us listening to the stories and jokes or him knowing that he brightened our lives with his events.,
Flavio Ricaurte Armesto was restless and showed great interest in learning and education since he was a student. Carmen Escalon Góngora, who was his professor in the Faculty of Medicine, says of him that “He was a passionate, committed student, he always wanted to learn more, he was always full of vitality, he said to me: ‘Dr Carmen, throw us a bullet’, which was like asking me to give him some curious facts. The way was to learn some new and challenging information,
His colleague Gustavo Cabrecas, who was Flavio’s study partner in the orthopedics specialization at the University of Cartagena, agrees. ,Flavio obtained a position in higher education in the advanced specialty in hip surgery at the Central Military Hospital. I remember that when he returned, he put a mark on his appearance and arrogance, always with a kind tone, but with the arrogance of one who knows and has experience. He was a rebel who never surrendered to any cause. He was a great conversationalist, he would talk about any topic, about cars, about sports. I remember an image where he represented Patch Adams in Casa del Niño, the doctor who healed with a smile“, Doctor. Cabaracas says.
The reference to Patch Adams that Gustavo Cabercus remembers, the doctor who made the children smile, is supported by Sylvia Berrocal, who was his patient for many years, since she was a child. ,Sometimes when I went to appointments I stayed at the end, I waited for everyone to be around, to talk with her, because if I went earlier I thought it wouldn’t last that long because I want to see other patients. My heart is well wrinkled. He was and will be an angel of God, because his relationship with us was wonderful. He was very excited when I turned fifteen. Once he gave me a million pesos because me and my mother needed something, he even gave me medicine when my mother could not. i wanted to be an orthopedist like him”, Sylvia says with great nostalgia.
His interest in social causes led him to participate in electoral politics; He was a candidate for Cartagena District Council in 2015; He didn’t get enough votes, but showed his leadership ability, charisma, and concern for the state of the city. He was basically a dreamer; He was a lover of parties in honor of the Virgen de la Candelaria in his hometown of Barranco de Loba. A few days ago he was in the United States with his family at the end of the basic training course of the Air Force along with his son Diego. Flavio was seen dressed in a jacket and tie, a hat and a happy smile. At the same time, on last Friday, February 24, he died due to a sudden heart attack.
I am writing this short profile not because he has been a friend of mine, but because I know he is a great loss to the city. left a great doctor, a great orthopedist; I can’t say how many bones Flavio Ricorte fixed, how many people he made walk again, but I can assure you there were a lot of bones, and he did it with passion, love and dedication. He was a great light to those of us who knew him, to his wife Ana, to his family, to his friends, colleagues, his students and patients.
This ambivalence for his departure is not the ambivalence of the few, it is the ambivalence of the collective, and it is possible that we will never know for sure how much of a gap his absence has left. Fortunately, we are certain of the enormous dimension that his life and his presence meant. Applause for a grown man.
* psychologist, chairman of the board of directors of Caribe Affirmativeo
,
