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Elisabeth in her room in the San Rafael hospital. Society Malaga locals prepare emotional welcome for Elisabeth who underwent four-kilo tumour removal surgery"Now I have more life ahead of me," Elisabeth told SUR upon her arrival in Malaga from A Coruña, where she underwent surgery by thoracic surgeon Dr Diego González Rivas on 2 January
José Antonio Sau
Friday, 23 January 2026, 16:04
Elisabeth Roldán Cómitre, a 39-year-old woman from Malaga, was reborn on 2 January after renowned thoracic surgeon Diego González Rivas operated on her in Hospital San Rafael in A Coruña. He successfully removed a "giant" four-kilo tumour that had grown in the pleura of her lung. It was an Ewing sarcoma, diagnosed in October 2024.
"He told me I had three months to live, that it had to be removed, that I was going to die, that he didn’t understand how no one had operated on it," Elisabeth told SUR after the surgery.
After spending almost four weeks in the Galician city, she was welcomed by friends and relatives both upon her arrival at Malaga Airport on Wednesday afternoon and when she returned to her neighbourhood, Portada Alta. A huge banner held up by neighbours awaited her: "Elisabeth, Portada loves you."
"The welcome was spectacular. At the airport, there was my whole family, everyone from the Carlos Haya hospital [where she works] and friends. I was lost for words," Elisabeth said, adding that everyone showed up in Portada despite the rain. "They called me 'Warrior', 'Champion' and told me: 'Eli, we love you'. They gave me a painting of a phoenix that reads: 'And from the ashes arose the mighty warrior'," Elisabeth told SUR.
She will now need to continue her oncological treatment. "Although they removed everything, there are still cancer cells left and they have to be eliminated," she said.
"I have more life ahead of me"
"I'm happy. I received hope when there was none and now I have more life ahead of me," Elisabeth said.
The tumour had grown so much that it had started to push her heart to the right, threatening to collide with a vein or artery, causing her death.
"We've bought time against the disease by removing that tumour. I have more time to keep living," she said.
Two videos that have gone viral on social media capture the huge crowds both at the airport and in her neighbourhood. There are hugs, smiles, tears and, above all, hope for Elisabeth.
Learn more about Elisabeth's journey and how Dr González Rivas became the only doctor who dared to operate on her here.