An unidentified ER doctor was devastated after he lost a 19-year-old patient and needed a moment to try to control his emotions.
The touching image was posted to reddit , with the physician’s permission, and is going viral because of the raw emotions depicted.
Emergency Room doctors are hardened, efficient professionals and you want to be in their capable hands when faced with a life and death situation. However, many times people forget these physicians are also human beings and death affects them deeply.
The photo is not the best quality, but definitely shows all the emotion this doctor feels after the devastating loss of a teen patient . The person posting, who identifies as “NickMoore911,” explains that he is an EMT and that a colleague took the picture.
“The man pictured was unable to save one of his patients. Though this is a common occurrence in our field of work, the patients we lose are typically old, sick, or some combination of the two. The patient that died was 19-years-old, and for him, it was one of those calls we get sometimes that just hits you.”
Moore’s picture went viral in a few minutes, indicating it had touched a nerve. A user by the name of “The Great Gator,” who says he is a surgeon, sums up what it feels like to have a patient die, no matter what age.
“There is nothing like working on a case for hours to then have the patient die. This picture sums up my emotions and I am sure the emotions of many others working in the medical field. As a comment earlier, we are never formally trained to deal with loss and/or with giving the worst news of a families life to them. After which, we then have to go on with our lives. And delivering the news of a child who we ‘lost’ or could not save is the one of the worst. Nothing can prepare the parents or families for this news and it is emotionally draining on all medical personnel as well. Yet, we have to remain strong and deliver the news straight faced with minimal emotion.”
Moore said he decided to post the photo, after authorization was granted, because people don’t realize that health care providers are human, just like their patients, “and this shows that stronger than anything I’ve seen in a long while.”
So what happened after the doctor had his moment? He dusted himself off and walked back to work with his head held high. The poster doesn’t disclose the ER physician’s name or where he works, nor the identity or reason for the teen’s death.
[Photo via Shutterstock ]