The Wings of Life (Las alas de la vida)

This beautiful documentary follows the final years in the life of Spanish family doctor, Dr Carlos Cristos, as he lives with the effects of Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), a progressing, incapacitating and ultimately fatal neurodegenerative condition.

Carlos was a family doctor on the Spanish island of Mallorca where he lived with his wife, Dr Carmen Font, and their young daughter, Carmela. Carlos had many friends in family medicine around the world and was involved with the World Organization of Family Doctors (Wonca) as one of the founding members of the Wonca Working Party on Informatics. In 2003, at the age of 47, Carlos was diagnosed with MSA. Over the following years he worked with his friend, film maker, Antonio P Canet, to relate his experiences and feelings as he faced the progressive effects of this condition and his own mortality.

This documentary has lessons for us all. It is a valuable teaching aid for medical students and family medicine residents and experienced family doctors wishing to learn about the way one man faced his own serious medical diagnosis with courage and with dignity.

Carlos passed away in 2008. He has left an inspiring legacy through this documentary. I commend it to you all.

Michael Kidd
Wonca president-elect

Click here to visit the The Wings of Life (Las alas de la vida) website.
Note: the website and trailer are currently in Spanish.