A pediatrician who accompanies with the heart
The story of Ricardo Martino is that of a pediatrician who decided that no child with an incurable disease should face the end of his life alone. Every day, in the Niño Jesús Children's Hospital in Madrid , Dr. Martino accompanies his little patients with a mixture of professionalism and tenderness, knowing that his mission goes beyond healing: his mission is to care for and fill life with life until the last moment . She is dedicated to a deeply vocational work: accompanying and caring for children and adolescents in pediatric palliative care.
This accompaniment not only alleviates medical suffering, but also offers emotional and spiritual support to both the patient and their family in the most difficult moments. In every hug, in every smile, and in every shared silence, Martino demonstrates a simple and powerful truth: We can't add days to life, but we can add life to days .
Who is Ricardo Martino?
Ricardo Martino Alba He is a pioneering Spanish paediatrician in paediatric palliative care and an international benchmark in this field. Currently, he serves as Head of the Paediatric Palliative Care Unit at the Niño Jesús Hospital in Madrid, where he leads an interdisciplinary team dedicated to alleviating the suffering of children with incurable diseases.
In addition to his clinical work, Martino is a university professor and director of the first Master's Degree in Paediatric Palliative Care in Spain, contributing to training new professionals in this emerging specialty. His academic background is extensive: he is a Doctor of Medicine, a Master's Degree in Healthcare Quality and a Diploma in Bioethics, which reflects his commitment to both scientific excellence and the ethics of care.
However, beyond titles and positions, those who know him highlight his human quality, his ability to listen and his deep empathy. Martino combines clinical experience, teaching and research, but above all transmits a conviction: Palliative care is a way to bring humanity back to medicine .
Vice President of the Fundación porqueViven
Faced with the lack of resources to care for incurable children at home, Ricardo Martino took a step forward. In 2009 he was one of the promoters of the Foundation porque Live , a non-profit organization born from the dream of a group of health professionals who wanted to improve pediatric palliative care in Spain. Martino is a trustee and vice-president of this foundation, whose mission is clear: "To offer comprehensive and humane care to children who cannot be cured and their families" , complementing the work of public health and reaching where hospitals do not reach.
With Martino very close, the foundation has accompanied hundreds of families throughout Spain, bringing them not only home medical assistance, but also psychological, social and spiritual support. In his programs such as "Better at home" or "Every moment counts" , beats Ricardo Martino's philosophy: the home, surrounded by the love of the family, is the best place to care for and, when the time comes, say goodbye to a child.
Thanks to this vision, many children have been able to spend their last days tucked in at home, with their toys and loved ones, instead of in a cold hospital room. The Foundation porque Live , aligned with this vision, works every day so that caring is also synonymous with living with dignity until the end.
Pioneer of paediatric palliative care in Spain
Dr. Martino doesn't just see patients; He has also been the architect of a systemic change in Spanish healthcare. In 2008, he promoted the creation of the first comprehensive public paediatric palliative care system of the Madrid Health Service. This pioneering program started practically from scratch, at a time when talking about palliative care for children was groundbreaking.
Since then, more than 1,000 children and adolescents in the Community of Madrid have received specialized care thanks to this model. Its focus is on the well-being of the child and their family, always prioritizing care at home whenever possible, with all the health guarantees, to offer them the best care at all times.
The vision of Martino is blunt: "All children with incurable clinical situations or with the possibility of death must receive the best possible assistance, accompanying them and their families not only medically but also psychologically" . Under this premise, Martino has inspired the creation of similar units in other regions of Spain and even in other countries, sharing his knowledge and push so that no child is left without palliative care due to lack of nearby services.
In addition, he has collaborated in the development of guides, team building and public awareness, establishing standards where there were none before. As if that were not enough, he designed the first postgraduate studies specialized in pediatric palliative care in Spain, a nationally recognized master's degree that has made it possible to professionalize this field and multiply the impact of its model, if today child palliative care is beginning to be considered a right and a reality in our country, to a large extent it is thanks to the visionary work of Ricardo Martino.
A profoundly human vision of medicine
What makes the Dr. Martino it is not only his experience, but his gaze. In a medical world sometimes dominated by protocols and indicators, Martino reminds us that each patient is first and foremost a person, not a clinical case. "Every child, every family, deserves to be seen and accompanied with closeness, dignity and respect" , he says convinced. For him, humanizing care is not a luxury, but a necessity, especially when it comes to fragile children and their loved ones. In his own words, "You don't have to be obsessed with death; our job is to help children live better, and death will come when it has to" .
Martino advocates normalizing death as part of life, removing the taboo while still treating it with respect. This attitude allows her to speak naturally and honestly to both her patients and their parents, clearing fears and focusing on creating full moments of life.
Under his guidance, the interdisciplinary team (doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, physiotherapists, music therapists, volunteers...) works together to cover all dimensions of the disease. "We are dedicated to the person who suffers, and people suffer for many things beyond the disease," Martino explains, emphasizing why his unit offers everything from pain management to emotional and spiritual support.
Her sensitivity also leads her to include the family as a unit of care: she teaches parents to care safely, offers respite for them to rest, and pays attention to siblings who are often left in the background. Every gesture by Ricardo Martino and his team seems to whisper the same message of hope: In the midst of fragility there is still life that deserves to be lived with fullness and dignity .
Recognitions and inspiring legacy
Ricardo Martino's work has not gone unnoticed. His more than two decades accompanying children in palliative care have earned him numerous awards, although he insists that "The awards don't matter, the children matter" . In 2019 he was named Ashoka Spain Social Entrepreneur, distinguishing himself as a social innovator for his pediatric palliative care model.
Shortly after, in 2021, he received the Arcane Social Entrepreneur Award, awarded jointly by the firm Arcano and the Ashoka Foundation, which highlighted his systemic impact on health and his long-range vision. This award was accompanied by support for one of the foundation's dreams: the construction of the CAPPI, which will be the first paediatric palliative care centre in Spain.
This project, which is underway thanks to the fact that the Amancio Ortega Foundation which finances 100% of the construction on a plot ceded by the Madrid City Council , aims to be a home away from home where families with children in pediatric palliative care can receive respite stays and comprehensive care in a welcoming environment, marking a milestone in child palliative care nationwide.
In 2022, the Spanish Red Cross awarded Ricardo Martino its Gold Medal , recognizing his pioneering and humanitarian trajectory in this much-needed field. This award underlines how Martino, from his humility, has transformed the panorama of Spanish pediatrics, putting values such as compassion, dignity and love at the center.
Beyond the awards, Ricardo Martino's true legacy lies in the lives he has touched. It is in the words of gratitude of some parents who, after losing their son, say that "the Foundation porque Live not only has she taken care of my son; he has taken care of us all" . It is in every young professional who chooses to dedicate themselves to palliative care inspired by their example. And it is, above all, in that seed of change that he has sown in society: today we talk a little more openly about death, we value life a little more, and we understand that even when it cannot be cured, it can be cared for.
A Story That Continues: The Mission of All of Us
Ricardo Martino's life and work teach us that, even in the face of the toughest illness, there is always room for love, hope and humanity. Their experiences and reflections continue to be shared not only at conferences and classrooms, but also through videos and testimonies on the Foundation's YouTube channel porque Live . In one of those videos, entitled "Do not be afraid of death" , Dr. Martino speaks directly to families, encouraging them to live without fear and to seize every moment together with their children.
In another, she offers her testimony on the importance of paediatric palliative care, stressing that it is about "helping to live as well as possible, not about anticipating death".
These audiovisual pieces, full of clarity and sensitivity, summarize the central message that Martino and porque Live Diffuse: Caring is also living . Today, Ricardo Martino's story continues to be written with every child served, every family that finds comfort and every volunteer who joins the cause. Her career is a powerful human storytelling that moves and inspires us: it reminds us of the importance of empathy in health care and the duty to accompany those who suffer.
Both the Foundation porque Live , as Ricardo and his team invite us all to be part of this mission. How can you help? Get involved: spread the word about the work of the foundation, become a volunteer, or make a donation if it is in your power. Every granite counts. As Martino himself says, "What is at stake is not only the present of these families, but the type of society we want to build: a society capable of taking care of those who need it most" .
Ultimately, Ricardo Martino's life shows us that compassion is also a path to hope. By humanizing the farewell of the little ones, this pediatrician from Madrid teaches us to celebrate life even in the midst of adversity. His legacy drives us to look to the future with the firm purpose of accompanying, alleviating and sustaining children and families in the moments of greatest vulnerability. And in that future, thanks to people like Ricardo Martino, there will be more clarity, more presence and more support for those who need it. Because accompanying well until the end is also a way to give meaning to the last stretch of life.
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