English Original
My father, Julio Sr., was a prominent gynecologist in Madrid and the most disciplined man I have ever known. To stay trim and healthy, he exercised two hours a day by walking, swimming, and playing tennis. His work ethic and high standards extended to his dreams for my brother, Carlos, and me. By the time I was a teenager, I thought I'd be either an athlete or a lawyer. I loved soccer and became a junior goalie for Spain's top professional team, Real Madrid. I was on a great team and was also in law school—just one class away from finishing my degree and going on to practice law.
Then everything changed. It was September 1963, the day before I turned 20. I was driving with some friends on a small service road outside Madrid when I was in a terrible accident. My car rolled over, and my spinal cord was damaged. My nerves were compressed, affecting my lower body. I couldn't walk and had trouble with my hands.
My father quit his profession for a year—quit everything—to take care of me. He conferred constantly with the doctors about my back surgery, a difficult 12-hour operation to relieve pressure on my spinal cord, and about my medications and physical therapy. He overruled the doctors on some things, and he was right. For example, he insisted I be taken off radium, which they were giving me when they thought I had developed a malignancy. In those days, they didn't have the diagnostic tools or medications we have now. It turned out I did not have a malignancy, and the radium could have severely burned my spinal cord.
When I got out of the hospital after three months, my father and my mother, Rosario, set up a little hospital room in our home. My father filled it with all the equipment I needed.
It took a long, long time for me to fully recover. I was in a great deal of pain. Four months after my accident, I could finally move my toes. I had to learn how to walk again, with everyone supporting me. With each step I took, I was sweating profusely. My soccer-playing days were over for sure. But without my father's devoted care, I would be in a wheelchair today.
中文翻译
我的父亲，老胡里奥，是马德里一位杰出的妇科医生，也是我认识的最自律的人。为了保持身材和健康，他每天锻炼两小时，包括散步、游泳和打网球。他的职业道德和高标准也延伸到了他对我哥哥卡洛斯和我的期望上。到我十几岁时，我以为自己将来会成为一名运动员或律师。我热爱足球，并成为了西班牙顶级职业球队皇家马德里的青年队守门员。我效力于一支伟大的球队，同时也在法学院学习——只差一门课就能完成学位并开始执业。
然后，一切都改变了。那是1963年9月，我20岁生日的前一天。我和一些朋友在马德里城外的一条小路上开车时，遭遇了一场可怕的事故。我的车翻了，脊髓受损。神经受到压迫，影响了下半身。我无法行走，双手也活动困难。
我的父亲放下他的职业一年——放下了一切——来照顾我。他不断地与医生商讨我的背部手术（一个长达12小时、旨在减轻脊髓压力的艰难手术）、我的药物和物理治疗。他在一些事情上推翻了医生的决定，而他是对的。例如，他坚持要求停止给我使用镭，当时医生认为我患上了恶性肿瘤，所以给我用镭。在那个年代，他们没有我们现在拥有的诊断工具或药物。结果证明我并没有恶性肿瘤，而镭本可能严重灼伤我的脊髓。
三个月后我出院时，我的父亲和母亲罗萨里奥在家里布置了一个小病房。父亲在里面备齐了我所需的所有设备。
我花了很长很长时间才完全康复。在此期间我承受了巨大的痛苦。事故四个月后，我终于能活动脚趾了。我必须在大家的支持下重新学习走路。每走一步，我都大汗淋漓。我的足球生涯肯定结束了。但如果没有父亲无微不至的照料，我今天可能还坐在轮椅上。