Defence Rejects Return of Jacobo, the Wheelchair-Bound Officer, to the Civil Guard: "They've Fooled Me Again"

A Jacobo Barchín, the wheelchair-bound Civil Guard officer who had secured a position in the Citizen Security unit of El Campello, had his life changed on December 2, 2020, when a cycling accident, one of his hobbies, resulted in an incomplete spinal cord injury at the dorsal vertebra 12.

Since that day, he has been tirelessly working on his recovery to return to the Armed Institute. This process has been endless and received a blow last October when the Civil Guard informed him of his retirement.

The disbelief of a 34-year-old who feels "fully capable" of returning to the Armed Institute in an adapted position led him to present his case in Congress and the Senate with the Unified Association of Civil Guards (AUGC).

Days later, the Civil Guard asked him to file an optional appeal for reconsideration with the Minister of Defence before resorting to legal action, as there was "political will to rectify the mistake" and an intention to "issue a favourable resolution," as Barchín states in a statement on the AUGC account.

"They've fooled me again," the young officer laments, asserting that Defence rejected the optional appeal for reconsideration on Monday, January 20. "Equality and inclusion sound nice, but in reality, they are just empty words, cheap propaganda," Barchín maintains.

The Civil Guard, now removed from his duties, cannot understand why he is not adapted to a position when there is a wheelchair user in the Army who has been readmitted. "A few years ago, we were more inclusive than now. The principles, values, and dignity of a person cannot be bought with money, and that is above all. The greatest barriers we face as people with disabilities every day are not physical but mental," he added.