Eduardo lives his worst night in Dakar: he sleeps in the sand, has no water and digs a hole in the sand

Eduardo Iglesias (05/26/1979 in Monforte de Lemos, Galicia)lived since Saturday the “longest night of his life,” as he declared in World of Sports this Sunday. Something you will never forget. He had to live on the other side of the Dakar. 12 hours in the desert until he was rescued. “It could not be a more difficult night in the race. What I am sure is that it was the longest night, and the most bitter for not continuing in the race,” he expressed.

Eduardo, textile businessman from 45 yearsmet the success and joy of the toughest race in the world, fulfilling his goal of reaching the finish line on a motorcycle as a novice rider in 4 of his 5 participations. He abandoned only once, two years ago, in 2023, when on the prologue stage, in the third corner, he suffered a heavy fall that left him with two broken collarbones.

Edward He did not want that to be his last memory of the Dakar and he returned in 2024, where he achieved his goal of finishing the Dakar for the fourth time, erasing from his memory the previous accident in a very difficult edition, where he had to work hard. In the 48-hour time trial, he narrowly escaped sleeping in the sand, in the middle of the route, without anything. But this time, he couldn’t escape that life experience.

What Eduardo experienced was a true odyssey. He is several checkpoints away from reaching the final finish line of the stage, in the desert, at night, with a motorcycle with engine problems. Also, the helicopter couldn’t land for him, nor could any truck because it was in such a difficult place. He will spend the night there. This is how he explained to Mundo Deportivo in the bivouac dining room.

“It was an odyssey, my hardest night”

“It’s an odyssey. In the 6 Dakars I’ve taken, I’ve never experienced this part. The day was complicated. I knew we were coming in the evening and when it got dark the going slowed down a lot and there was an area of ​​complex dunes. There were cars on one side, trucks in front that couldn’t get up and a big mess started. Also, I started having engine problems. The bike overheats and shuts down. I had to stop to let it cool down and I was able to continue for a bit, but then I had to stop again. So I saw that for my safety and the safety of the bike, I had to stop.he explained.

Two sips of water

That was the beginning of their night. “longer”. What I didn’t know was that things would get even more complicated. In theory, since he is unharmed, the organization should provide him with food and water rations. He did so, but there was a problem. Due to the impact with the sand, the bottles exploded, as well as the juice inside. All that was left were the energy bars and two sips of water that he had to manage through the night.without knowing what time they would come for him.

“The organization told me to look for a truck, but I found it difficult to access. Then the helicopter came, it circled a couple of times but it must not have been very clear to land, since I didn’t have any physical problems and it wasn’t necessary. Yes, they threw water and a portion of food at me, but upon impact on the ground, there was no water, no juice, nothing. I was left with only the bars and the company of the few little bugs that were there,” he said.

Another problem remained: the temperature. During the previous refueling, Eduardo took off his sleeve. He repented all night. I would have needed them. Due to engine problems, he was unable to start his motorcycle several times to warm up. He did this several times. He was wearing what he was wearing: his biker clothes. And also, he had a raincoat, one night when some drops fell on Al Duwadimi. And a thermal blanket. There, Eduardo tried everything to make sure the cold air hit him as much as possible.

“Fortunately, it’s not as cold as the last few days. It took quite a while, because it was there from 7 pm to 7 am. 12 hours. The hours were long. I spent them curled up in a thermal blanket. I started the motorcycle engine twice during the night. The air was a bit cold but I got in between the bike and dug a little in the sand to make a small hole. I was hugging the thermal blanket, even though it was very windy the blanket was moving.

Several cars and motorcycles passed by, it was late at night, and at 7 in the morning the helicopter arrived. First they rode a motorcycle and a French doctor stayed with me. He had 3 Dakasrs and his first intervention was in the prologue stage of 2023, my accident, in the third corner. I arrived at the bivouac at 8 in the morning. And there it was evacuated.

His 80-year-old mother, watching a map

He reckons the hardest part, beyond the physical and emotional parts, is thinking about the suffering his family must be going through when they see their point on the race tracking map stopped. At that moment, the imagination runs wild and many think the worst: an accident. Especially Eduardo’s mother can suffer, who at 80 years old always follows her son through a mobile device. He wants to call right away.

“The family is always in doubt when they see a stopping point. My brother always reassures us by saying that if there is a point and it stops, if it is an accident, that point will be removed from the map. And in my case, it’s not like that. I always had that doubt and I called a sponsor friend, my sister and my mother. “I wanted to reassure everyone and I didn’t want to be surprised the people.”

“I was overwhelmed. I had a satellite phone and I called the family and reassured them, because everyone was very attentive and worried when they saw the point standing there that appeared on the map,” highlighted the Galician pilot. “I released a little through crying, because in the end you can reengage, but you don’t choose to be a ‘finisher’. I’m on 4 of the last 5 occasions and I’ve been fighting all week with a very difficult start in Dakar this, i have to live in this part of the race. “I’m happy because I don’t have any injuries,” concluded Eduardo, who when he spoke with MD was hesitant about the re-engagement, with no choice to finish as a ‘finisher’ and with more more to lose than to gain.. He came out of the race unscathed and he has to appreciate that.