A surgical team in Russia’s remote Far East has won plaudits online after bravely staying behind in a burning building to finish up an open-heart procedure, while around them patients and employees were being evacuated to safety.
The fire broke out at a surgical department building in Blagoveshchensk, close to the Chinese border, on Friday. Plumes of acrid black smoke could be seen billowing from the facility, as fire crews rushed to tackle the blaze.
However, in a statement, the regional Ministry of Emergency Situations confirmed that “one patient and eight members of the medical team are still in the building, performing an operation.”
Despite the apparent danger, it appears that the risk paid off, and the operation was reportedly a success. The patient and the medical team were evacuated as soon as the operation was complete.
“[The patient’s] condition is assessed as stable,” the source added. “There is no threat to his life and he is recovering in the postoperative intensive care unit of the regional hospital.”