Fernando Uceta, 62, who suffers from COPD, following a double lung transplant in August 2022, uses a portable oxygen concentrator backpack with a battery to breathe as he sits in the balcony of his house before going to the Hospital del Mar for a check-up with his doctor, during the first summer heatwave, in Barcelona鈥檚 Raval neighbourhood, Spain June 27, 2023. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
BARCELONA 鈥� As a heat wave rolling over Spain entered its second day on Tuesday, Barcelona residents disproportionately affected by extreme temperatures due to disabilities were mostly forced to suffer the heat indoors.
Human Rights Watch said in a report on Monday that people with disabilities faced risks of death, physical, social, and mental health distress due to extreme heat, particularly if 鈥渓eft to cope with dangerous temperatures on their own鈥�.
鈥淚 stay in bed almost without clothes and the fan turned on its maximum setting,鈥� Fernando Uceta, 62, a Barcelona man who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and received a double lung transplant last August, told Reuters.
During excessive heat, he struggles more to breathe and feels very tired. He also needs to spray himself with water.
鈥淚t鈥檚 discouraging for me that I can hardly go outside,鈥� said Uceta, who shares a flat with a friend and a cat named 鈥淨ueen鈥�, explaining he could not afford an air-conditioning unit that would send his electricity bill rocketing.