Doctors may not always be able to save their patients from death, but this doesn't mean that losing a person in their hands is easy to accept. An image has gone viral on social media that highlights the difficulty that medical professionals experience when they fail to save a life.
The image, originally uploaded to Facebook and subsequently shared on Reddit by thousands, shows an E.R doctor who was unable to save his 19-year old patient from death. The man can be seen in the image kneeling and slumped over as he tries to contain himself after failing to save his teenage patient's life. The photo has garnered support and empathy for the physician as well as for other professionals in the medical field.
The image was shared by an emergency medical technician who works with the man in the picture and sheds light on difficult experiences that medical professionals regularly encounter. The EMT said that, while medical professionals typically lose old and sick patients, there are times when losing a patient can hit them hard, such as in this case where the patient was only 19 years old.
"The man pictured was unable to save one of his patients," the image poster said. "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."
The poster added that after grieving, the doctor in the image went back inside and held his head high again.
The image has, so far, garnered numerous responses from those who have seen how doctors desperately attempt to save their loved ones' lives and those who actually work in the medical field.
Reddit user J-HOF shared how doctors were devastated when they were unable to save his father.
"The doctors kept reassuring us that he would be fine. When he died, the doctors who were working on him at the UCSD Medical Center were crushed. I could definitely see it in their eyes. They called my house multiple times throughout the year to see how my family was doing. Doctors do not get the praise they deserve," J-HOF wrote.
Facetus, who works in the E.R, shared that the image has made him feel happier with his career choice.
"The strange thing is, despite the picture showing such a dark moment and bringing back some distressing memories, it actually makes me feel happier about my career choice. I think it is the sense of connection with the unknown doc in the pic and the comments and reaction of Reddit community that makes me feel: What we do matters," he said.
