Surgeon Dies Of Heart Attack After Performing Operation On COVID Patients For 12 Hours

A top Italian surgeon has died of a heart attack after 12 hours of non-stop work dealing with COVID-19 patients.

Doctor Raffaele Sebastiani, 61, who worked as a surgeon in a polyclinic in the Italian city of Bari, died earlier this week after the non-stop session.

Raffaele, a husband and a father of two daughters, had worked during his shift from 8am till 2pm.

Raffaele Sebastiani, surgeon at the Bari polyclinic, died in December 2021, after he spent 12 hours operation in the operation room. (Newsflash)

During the night, he then received a call and went back to work to perform a surgery that lasted for 12 hours.

His work was made more difficult by the protective equipment he had to wear in order to protect himself from the coronavirus, as his patients had reportedly tested positive for COVID-19.

When he came back home he apparently suffered a heart attack and passed away.

Dr Dafne Pisani wrote on Facebook: “Dr Sebastiani will be missed, the ironic smile between one Virgin Radio advertisement and the other, the Sunday consultations, the joke always ready to temper heated moments, which in this, at times, damned job are sadly not rare.”

Goodbye message for Raffaele Sebastiani, surgeon at the Bari polyclinic, who died in December 2021, after he spent 12 hours operation in the operation room. (Newsflash)

His colleague Vito Lavolpe said: “Surgeon Raffaele Sebastiani passed away at the age of 61, after 24 hours on call and 12 hours in the operating room at the Policlinico di Bari. With his work, with his dedication, with his life he honoured the white coat…”

Antonio Mazzarella of the Italian General Confederation of Labour said: “For two years now, health workers have been under pressure with shifts and workloads that are not always sustainable.”

The health authority and the unions will investigate the shifts the deceased doctor undertook before his death.