José Ignacio Peralta Labrador

José Ignacio Peralta Labrador (Fig. 1), Nacho, died on 3 March 2019 at Hospital Universitario Torrecárdenas (Almería), where he had worked until a few months earlier.

Nacho was a clinical neurologist whose calling led him to cross the Peninsula, coming to Almería from his native Santander. He started his neurological journey as a medical student at Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla (Santander); after completing his residency at Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid, he worked for several years at Hospital Virgen de las Nieves (Granada), until landing definitively in Almería. Nacho would yearn at times for “the clouds of the Cantabrian Sea,” and well into the 21st century decided to return to Asturias, where he spent a few years.

Back in Almería, where he would visit the mountains when he could, he combined his professional work with his 2 other passions: music and falconry. He became an expert “neurofalconer” and had many anecdotes about this pursuit, which often transcended his work at the hospital. In the evenings, Nacho would disconnect through his music, playing with several bands that would perform sporadically when their services were needed. In his last years, after an exhaustive search for his ideal instrument, he specialised in the mandolin. At Christmas 2018, we finally persuaded him to play for us, accompanied by a resident, at a departmental lunch. Everybody enjoyed the semi-improvised performance, which was immortalised in multiple videos and photographs.

Nacho was no friend of protocols and rigid interventions, but easily adapted to all the tasks he was entrusted with. In the last years, he focused on headaches and treatment with botulinum toxin. He was greatly appreciated by his patients, who did not forget his personality; they often asked after “the neurologist with the earring” with whom they enjoyed long conversations. Nacho’s disease was detected while he was working at the headache clinic. However, he had previously lived through other ordeals. He had received a pancreas and kidney transplant for untreatable diabetes, and never had to take another antidiabetic; he was also able to live a nearly normal life despite severe renal insufficiency. On one occasion, he recounted how he once had to find a dialysis centre in the Netherlands in order to be able to attend a neurology conference. A serious traffic accident on the “Cañarete” coastal road almost cost him his life; he recovered with minimal sequelae, although he used up one of the 9 lives we often joked that he had.

The best of Nacho was undoubtedly his human side. He was loved and appreciated by all who knew him, and wherever he went he left a trail of friends and admirers. He had an excellent relationship with all his colleagues and it was nearly impossible to fault him on anything. His death is a great loss for his patients, but most of all for his family and friends.