In a dramatic rescue operation, the Local Police have saved a young woman who appeared naked and attempted to jump from the balcony of an apartment block in the El Camison area of Playa de las Américas and Los Cristianos in the south of Tenerife.
Reports just released, detail how the incident took place last Sunday morning (May 12th)’, when the woman, of Italian nationality, was first seen running naked in the street between the Arona Courthouse and the surrounding area of El Camison. Concerned passersby alerted the police, who were patrolling between Playa de las Americas and Los Cristianos.
Officers began searching for the woman with the help of bystanders and witness reports, and found her climbing the facade of a building in the El Camisón residential complex. Despite police orders to stop, she continued climbing, using the structures of a nearby restaurant to reach the first floor and then leaping from balcony to balcony to reach her apartment on the second floor.
Police managed to engage with the woman at her home, who claimed to feel better at home but was also heard shouting that she needed to "free herself from the bad”. Despite activating a protocol for individuals in a distressed state, which included dispatching an Advanced Life Support ambulance, only a Basic Life Support ambulance arrived, which was not equipped to handle the situation.
As officers tried to communicate with her, the ambulance left to collect a doctor and nurse from the nearest health centre. Meanwhile, the police identified the woman as a 34-year-old Italian resident of the building. Her friend and coworker, who also arrived at the scene, confirmed that both worked at a hotel in Los Cristianos. She explained that the woman had started screaming and undressing at work before running home.
With her friend’s help, the woman made incoherent phone calls, including telling her friend’s mother that she lived with her father, who has been dead for several years.
Despite initially calming the woman in her apartment, she began collecting rubbish and approached the balcony, claiming she needed to throw it out, but when she tried to jump over the balcony's edge, officers intervened, pulling her back inside after a struggle.
She attempted to break free again, and ran towards a window to jump, but the police managed to restrain and handcuff her to prevent further harm.
Eventually, the medical team arrived and deemed it necessary for the woman to be involuntarily admitted to a hospital with psychiatric issues, so she was transported to the psychiatric unit at the Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria, where she remains under care.
This intense episode highlights the swift response and bravery of Arona's police force in handling a delicate and potentially tragic situation.
