Stroke ruled out but speech problems persist

Latest news on the state of health of the artist, who was admitted urgently this Tuesday after suffering a cerebrovascular episode while recording a Christmas special for the program The Revolt. Raphael81 years old, remained for 24 hours at the San Carlos Clinical Hospital, which issued a statement shortly before 7 p.m. to inform that the patient will be transferred, at his own request and also that of his family, to the hospital. Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid.

In it they confirm that Raphael was admitted after suffering a speech error that was initially related to a stroke. However, the tests carried out have ruled out the possibility of a stroke: “After the first hours and after carrying out the urgent neurological study, the stroke was ruled out as the cause of his hospital admission.” However, the medical team advises continuing to investigate “to determine the origin of the neurological process he presents” and to this end, both the artist’s family and he himself have requested transfer to the 12 de Octubre Hospital. “given his transplant history.”

It must be remembered that the singer was diagnosed with Hepatitis B in 1985: “The disease advances silently and treacherously,” he once said. So much so that it caused severe liver cirrhosis that put his life at risk, because after a long period of treatments and relapses, his only option was a liver transplant. It was held on April 1, 2003 and was a success. Since then, Raphael fully trusts this medical team, who has treated him and knows his history perfectly.

The complete medical report

“The patient Miguel Rafael Martos Sánchez was transferred last night to the San Carlos Clinical Hospital as a result of a problem detected in his speech, compatible with a possible stroke. After the first hours and after carrying out the urgent neurological study, he was He has ruled out stroke as the cause of his hospital admission. However, more tests will be necessary to determine the origin of the neurological process he presents, at the request of the patient and his family, he will be transferred to the 12 de Octubre University Hospital. his history of the transplant that he underwent at the aforementioned center and for the continued medical follow-up that he will carry out at said hospital.

Conscious and stable

The events occurred shortly before 7 p.m. this Monday. Raphael was recording a Christmas special for La Revuelta when both the team and the audience realized that “something was wrong with him because it was as if he didn’t understand or didn’t speak well,” according to what they told Informalia. The emergency services showed up on Gran Vía and the singer got into the ambulance on his own: “It must have been something momentary. I mean, then he seemed to be normal.”

The first to arrive at the hospital was his son Manuel Martos. This Tuesday the rest did so with his wife, Natalia Figueroa, who tried to remain calm despite her more than understandable concern about the situation.

A packed agenda

Raphael had two concerts scheduled this weekend, on Friday and Saturday, at the WiZink Center in Madrid, where he was going to say goodbye to his audience until next May 2025: “I am going to sing a selection of very important songs in my story and some Christmas stories too,” he said this Monday on Antena 3. The start of his tour is scheduled for the 31st of that month in Almería and has stops in Albacete, Marbella, Cádiz or Santander, among many others. This same Monday we saw him splendid with Pablo Motos, with whom he was talking about his new album, ‘Yesterday… still’: “It is a dream album to pay tribute to the great artists of French song.” He also talked about how he planned to spend the next few days with his family: “My favorite food at Christmas is seafood. I don’t know how to prepare it, but I know how to eat it,” he said, laughing.

Raphael’s agenda was full in recent days. On December 11, he was awarded Man of the Year by Esquire magazine. The event took place at the Royal Tapestry Factory in Madrid, where he attended accompanied by his granddaughter. A recognition of an immense career of which he is proud: “I don’t regret anything. It’s just that everything has turned out well for me. And what went wrong, they fixed it.”