Jorge Báez, who was diagnosed with leukaemia in 1996, now spreads the importance of blood and bone marrow donations among his students
Cristina Pinto
Friday, 10 April 2026, 13:21
Intense knee pain and abdominal swelling were Jorge Báez's first symptoms. Then came a long journey through private and insurance doctors until he received the leukaemia diagnosis "after a very long day" at Hospital Materno Infantil in Malaga. It was 6 May 1996.
"That's when the odyssey began," Jorge, now 41, says in an interview with SUR just before playing a friendly game of football with his friends. Back then, at the age of eleven, he was about to make history by becoming the first child to receive a bone marrow transplant in Malaga.
Before the procedure, he spent six days in a hospital in Malaga, another 33 in Seville and then returned to his hometown to continue with weekly treatments. His recovery was a marathon that began to turn around in January 1997, after the transplant.
Despite the difficulty of the process, he harbours no resentment when he looks back. "I ended up being the first child to receive an autologous transplant and my memory of it is one of learning. I don't remember it badly because I was just a child, but it was a long road." 30 years later, he breathes a sigh of relief when he talks about his recovery: "Thank God I haven't had any relapses."
He is aware of the entire process, its progression and the consequences of the illness. "My family tried not to pass on that suffering to me, but I know it was there. It helped me mature, perhaps too soon, but it marked my life for the better," he says.
That eleven-year-old boy is now a PE teacher and principal of the Salvador Rueda primary school. Through his work, he has used his personal experience to teach his students positive values. "I try to ingrain these values and make them aware of the importance of organ donation. The children empathise and pass the message on to their families," he says.
His positive attitude, which he's had since childhood, has led him not only to share his experiences in the classroom but also to expand his awareness-raising mission through Avoi (the association of volunteers for children with cancer at the Maternal Infantil hospital), which he has known since his own diagnosis.
On Thursday, Avoi, Héroes hasta la médula and Paula y la Fábrica de la Médula launched the school bone marrow and blood donation day - an initiative that aims to raise awareness among fourth, fifth and sixth grade students in Malaga schools. The event will happen on 24 April, but in the days before that the students will participate in various activities at their schools. On the day itself, there will be a special event at the Eduardo Ocón venue. "It's also very important to teach this in the classroom," Jorge says.
Something one of his teachers said when he was diagnosed has lived with him all these years: "If you want, you can." "I'll never forget," Jorge says.