A surgeon feeling under the weather ignored the symptoms and suffered a fatal heart attack while performing surgery in a hospital operating room in Saudi Arabia, according to reports.
Mahdi al-Emari, an orthopedic surgeon, started feeling ill Friday at Khamis Mushait Civil Hospital in the Asir region, the Gulf News reported. His colleagues said the doctor insisted on operating on the patient despite signs that he was unwell.
“Despite his severe stomach pains, he insisted on conducting the surgery for the patient,” said Dr. Majid Al Shehri, head of the hospital’s orthopedic department.
Colleagues were able to convince him to get an electrocardiogram, which indicated he suffered a heart attack, according to the BBC, which cited local reports.
It’s unclear whether he returned to the operating room before or after he got the results.
But Al Sheri called his death “an example of sacrifice that a doctor can do until the last moment of his life.”
“He died while performing his work. He is a work martyr,” Al Shehri said, the Gulf News reported.