Award for the Piatra Neamt hero-doctor
Doctor Cătălin Denciu, from the Piatra Neamt County Hospital has been awarded by the WHO
Roxana Vasile, 25.05.2021, 13:50
Romanian doctor Catalin Denciu, who, in November last year, risked his life to save the patients from the fire that broke out at the Intensive Care Unit of the Piatra Neamt County Hospital has been awarded by the World Health Organization. Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus mentioned, in the speech given at the opening of the organization’s main annual assembly, the sacrificial power shown by Piatra Neamt hero doctor Catalin Denciu, as he announced that he was being honored with the Director General’s Award for Global Health.
Dr. Catalin Denciu is an intensive care specialist in Romania. He was on duty in November last year, caring for patients with COVID-19, when a fire broke out in the hospital. Ten patients died in the fire, and in trying to save others, Dr. Denciu suffered third-degree burns to 40% of his body, the WHO head said. Today we will honour him with an award for his service, sacrifice and example he set, the WHO Director General said of the Romanian selfless physician, also stating that such cases are just a few examples of the millions of stories about courage, suffering, despair, struggle and triumph of the medical workers fighting the pandemic.
The WHO also posted on its Twitter account a video-message from the hero-doctor, who accepted the award on behalf of the entire medical staff and patients and their families:
Being a doctor means responsibilities and huge expectations. I urge you to support the medical staff and fight together with them in order to fight the pandemic. There are heroes every day in this battle, in growing numbers, and they keep going, despite all hardships. I am honored to accept this award on behalf of all healthcare workers in Romania and around the world who are in the first line of this fight. (…) It’s an award for those resilient, for those who do not give up and keep on going, Dr. Denciu said in a thank-you response to receiving this recognition.
10 people died on November 14th in the fire that destroyed the Intensive Care Unit of the County Hospital in Piatra Neamt. Catalin Denciu was on call that day, and when the fire broke out he got in trying to save as many patients as possible, without thinking that he was putting his own life in danger. After that, he was taken by a military plane to Belgium where doctors there saved his life and where he is still recovering. His gesture has been widely recognized, including by Belgians, who called him The Hero of 2020. In the meantime, the investigation continues, but the exact causes of the tragedy are still not clear. Following a verification carried out nationwide immediately after the tragedy, some 2 thousand instances of non-compliance with the fire regulations were reported. (MI)
