“A pilgrim dies on her first stage of the Camino.”

A 65-year-old American pilgrim has died while walking with her husband the first stage of the Camino de Santiago between Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and Valcarlos, one of the best-known accesses to the French Way through the Pyrenees.

The event occurred this Saturday near Arnegi, very close to the border with Navarra. The woman suffered a cardiac arrest while walking accompanied by her husband, with whom she had traveled from the United States just a few days before to begin the pilgrimage.

Civil Guard troops and a medical helicopter traveled to the site, which landed on the N-135 highway. Despite the intervention of the emergency services, it was not possible to save the pilgrim's life.

They had traveled from the United States to do the Camino

The woman was part of a group of approximately ten North American pilgrims who had started the stage from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port that morning.

The group planned to finish the day in Valcarlos, where they had reserved accommodation to spend the night before continuing along the French Way.

At the time the event occurred, the woman and her husband had fallen somewhat behind the rest of the pilgrims.

The Camino had practically just begun for both of them. They had arrived from the United States with the intention of living an experience that attracts thousands of foreign walkers every year, but the first day ended in the most tragic way.

A first stage that requires effort

The departure from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port is one of the best known on the French Way, but it is also a particularly demanding first contact for those who begin their pilgrimage there.

The variant that passes through Valcarlos runs at a lower altitude than the Lepoeder mountain route, although it is still a day with significant slopes and considerable physical effort.

For many international pilgrims, this is also their first real experience walking with a backpack for several consecutive hours, after having made a long trip to Europe.

For this reason, prior preparation and adaptation of the effort to the physical condition of each person acquire special importance during these first days.

Health problems on the Camino

Cardiovascular events are among the most serious medical emergencies that can occur during a pilgrimage.

Prolonged effort, unevenness, heat or cold, and certain previous illnesses can increase the risk, especially among older pilgrims or people who begin the route without sufficient preparation.

A medical study published in 2019 on the health problems recorded among pilgrims of the Camino indicated acute coronary syndrome among the main causes of death during the pilgrimage and recommended a prior medical evaluation in people with chronic diseases or risk factors.

This does not mean that the Camino is a dangerous activity for the majority of those who do it, but it does remind us of the importance of adapting the stages, resting and not turning the first kilometers into a test against the clock.

The French Way once again dresses in mourning

In recent years, Navarra has recorded other deaths of pilgrims related to sudden health problems and different accidents.

The entrance to the French Way through the Pyrenees is one of the most spectacular and symbolic sections of the entire Jacobean route, but also one of those where it is advisable to start with caution.

The death of this American pilgrim also leaves a particularly painful image: that of a couple who had traveled thousands of kilometers to begin together an experience that they had probably been preparing for a long time and that ended in the first hours of their Camino.

For the rest of the pilgrims, the news also serves as a reminder of something fundamental: getting to Santiago matters, but taking care of your health and knowing how to listen to your body along the way matters even more.