A heart surgeon stabbed with a 10-inch knife in a waiting room by a patient has survived due to a rare anomaly causing his liver to be on the wrong side of his body.
The cardiologist was stabbed in the stomach with a 25-centimetre (10-inch) blade as he entered the busy waiting room of his department in the Kaiser-Franz-Josef hospital in the Austrian capital of Vienna before his alleged attacker sat and waited for police to arrive.
As the doctor entered the waiting room at around 10 AM yesterday (Wednesday) the alleged attacker, named in reports as Paul J., 33, is said to have stood up from his chair and stormed towards the 64-year-old doctor before stabbing him in the stomach as other horrified patients looked on.
The cardiologist collapsed to the floor bleeding heavily from his stomach whilst other staff rushed to his aid.
As the doctor was receiving emergency treatment the alleged attacker, originally from Sierra Leone, reportedly sat back down and calmly waited for the police to arrive, who then arrested him.
According to sources the doctor was not stabbed in any vital organs as due to a rare anomaly his liver is located on the left side of his body instead of on the right.
Police spokesman Paul Eidenberger said: “The doctor received life-threatening injuries, but following an emergency operation the patient’s life is no longer in danger.”
Hospital boss Michaela Riegler-Keil said: “We have known the alleged attacker for years. He was always unobtrusive.
Gerhard Winkler, who is leading the investigation into the incident, said: “It was a planned attack on the doctor. We think there is some sort of personal motive for the attack, but do not know the reason at this time.”
Local media report that the alleged attacker has been a patient of the doctor since 2011 and has previously been operated on by him.
The investigation continues.
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Story By: Kathryn Quinn, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
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