This is the moment an exhausted surgeon collapses twice at the end of a shift breaking two of his front teeth on impact after doing back-to-back surgeries for two weeks in a row.
Yang Wenkai, head of general surgery at Dazhu People’s Hospital in China’s south-western province of Sichuan, said he did not remember fainting twice on New Year’s Eve and had to watch surveillance footage to understand what had happened.
Footage from 31st December shows Doctor Yang having just completed another double shift and preparing to go home.
As he enters the hospital lift, the medic appears tired and can be seen yawning as he tries to stand up straight.
At 10:57pm local time, Doctor Yang collapses onto the floor and does not manage to pick himself back up until a minute later.
The video shows him stumbling out the opening lift doors without his glasses, and into the car park where he falls a second time just four minutes later, face-planting the ground.
Doctor Yang lost consciousness for five minutes, the hospital said, and he was rushed back into the accident and emergency department after being discovered.
A hospital report said the medic, who did back-to-back surgeries for two weeks in a row, broke both top front teeth during the fall, while four others are now also loose.
He said: “I remember not being able to find my glasses. I kept thinking and thinking but couldn’t remember what had happened to them.
“I had no recollection of what happened that night. I learned everything by watching the surveillance footage.
“I don’t remember anything that happened after I walked into the lift. I only remember telling myself I want to go home.”
On New Year’s Day, after having been given strict orders to observe bed rest, Doctor Yang defied his doctor’s advice and continued to consult with his staff members who brought patient charts into his hospital room.
According to the hospital, Doctor Yang was back at work on 2nd January.
By 14th January, Doctor Yang was back doing five of the facility’s 11 daily scheduled general surgeries.
The medic thanked his colleagues for their care and concern after the incident, saying he was “proud” to be part of the organisation.
Social media users, who have left hundreds of comments praising the doctor’s work ethic, have urged him to take a proper break.
On Weibo, China’s Twitter-like microblogging platform, netizen ‘Yu Yifengzhong Duiyin’ said: “Please take care of yourselves, too!”
‘Nfgsw’ added: “This looks like more than normal fatigue to me. You may be causing your body problems. Your family will be heartbroken watching this.”
‘Karryywang’ wrote: “Who doesn’t know to take care of their body? You think doctors don’t know to do that? They just aren’t able to. He has to power through.”
‘Meiren Zengwo Menghanyao’ commented: “Doctors really are the most hardworking. They deserve the respect and love of all of society.”
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Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
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