Alabama neurosurgeon walks 6 miles in snow storm to perform brain surgery
FoxNews.com
An Alabama neurosurgeon was at Brookwood Medical Center when he was needed six miles away for emergency brain surgery at Trinity Medical Center. Dr. Zenko Hrynkiw set off in his car but a rare snowstorm locked down traffic and he didn’t get farther than a few blocks.
Dressed in his hospital scrubs, the 62-year-old got out of his car and walked the rest of the trip in freezing temperatures.
“He had a 90 percent chance of death,” Hrynkiw said of the patient who had gone unconscious.
Hrynkim said that if the patient did not have surgery he would have died, “and that’s not going to happen on my shift.”
Hrynkiw, Trinity’s only brain surgeon told reporters that the trip “really wasn’t that big of a deal,” according to AL.com.
“It was kind of nice day for a walk,” he said, describing the trip as “kind of a fun journey.”
Steve Davis, the charge nurse in the neuro intensive care unit at Trinity had alerted authorities that Hrynkiw was walking.
“The police were looking for him,” said Davis, but despite supposed sightings couldn’t locate him and didn’t make contact with him until hours later.
“He finally called me and said, ‘Where’s the patient? What’s the status?’” Davis said.
“He spoke to the family and went off to surgery.”
The patient is reported to be doing well.
The extreme weather Tuesday has been blamed for five deaths in Alabama and it stranded untold thousands away from their homes.
Romans 12:6-8 (AMP) –
6 Having gifts (faculties, talents, qualities) that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them: [He whose gift is] prophecy, [let him prophesy] according to the proportion of his faith; 7 [He whose gift is] practical service, let him give himself to serving; he who teaches, to his teaching; 8 He who exhorts (encourages), to his exhortation; he who contributes, let him do it in simplicity and liberality; he who gives aid and superintends, with zeal and singleness of mind; he who does acts of mercy, with genuine cheerfulness and joyful eagerness.
From B Harmon Contributor: This is a story that gives me hope for those that are suffering from sickness and disease in today’s world. The Doctors of the past were dedicated to saving lives no matter what time of day or night it was. In horse and buggy, thru creeks and mountains, in torrents of rain and snow – reaching a patient in time was their ultimate goal.
It didn’t matter what your finances consisted of as life was without a doubt, the number one priority. Even in the 60s, I remember our family doctor, Dr. Goodall, coming out to our home which was 4.5 miles from the small town of Breckenridge, TX. My Mother Jessie was very frail with a bad heart and suffered frequent fainting spells which almost always included falling.
It was a cold winters night that Dad called Dr. Goodall as Mom had fainted once again. It seemed like only minutes went by that I heard a knock at the door and it was Dr. Goodall who quickly attended to my Mother checking all of her vital signs and reviving her back to her natural state. He was known for specializing in various heart problems.
I will never forget that night and looking back, he was not only our family doctor but a friend of our family as well. Back then, there was no limit as to how long a doctor spent with each patient – however long it took.
This is a story that every modern day Physician needs to take to heart. If he wouldn’t be willing to walk 6 miles thru a storm to save a patient, he needs to find another profession. There are a lot of Doctors out there but few dedicated Physicians.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/02/01/neurosurgeon-walks-6-miles-in-snow-storm-to-perform-brain-surgery/?intcmp=latestnews
The Associated Press contributed to this report.