Saving a life: A doctor's duty -- a husband's, too
Cincinnati (CNN) -- As he cradled his wife's limp body in his arms, Tim Delgado told himself, "You have to do this."
The fate of Alison, his wife, best friend and medical school classmate, depended on it. His usually steady hands quivered as he held her pale face steady and fumbled with the tools that could save her life. Her doe-eyes rolled to the back of her head.
Through tears, he said, "I'm sorry, babe."
Then, he stabbed her neck.
Alison's eyes shot open. She gurgled in pain and weakly clawed at the tracheotomy tube that pierced her throat. It was November 21, 2010, and just a few minutes earlier, the newlyweds had climbed into bed. Married just six months and focused on their careers, the couple hadn't even had time to pick out wedding photos to frame for their new house. Now all that -- and more -- would be put on hold. They were getting ready to sleep when an aneurysm ruptured in Alison's brain, triggering a violent seizure. Without an airway tube to help her breathe, she could have choked on her own vomit and died. For Tim, a second-year medical resident, jamming a tube in his wife's neck without drugs "was the most difficult thing I ever had to do."................. http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/05/married.doctors.emergency/index.html?hpt=C2
__._,_.___
