Dr. Jonathan Drummond-Webb Suicide

[Kay]

What a sad and incredibly tragic loss!


Renowned Child Heart Surgeon Commits Suicide
Dr. Jonathan Drummond-Webb Was 45
By JAY HUGHES, AP

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Dec. 26) - Dr. Jonathan Drummond-Webb, a heart surgeon whose work was the focus of a four-part television series and who successfully implanted a life-saving miniature heart pump in a child, was found dead Sunday of a suicide. He was 45.

Drummond-Webb took an overdose of medication and left a note for his wife, who discovered the body, according to Arkansas Children's Hospital. The hospital said friends believe the surgeon suffered a sudden bout of depression.

Dr. Jonathan Bates, chief executive officer of Arkansas Children's Hospital, said Drummond-Webb worked tirelessly to save his patients.

''Some would say they saved 98 out of 100,'' Bates said Sunday. ''He looked at it and said I lost two out of 100.''

Drummond-Webb, chief of pediatric and congenital cardiac surgery at the hospital, earned a national reputation. In 2002, his work was the subject of a four-part ABC News documentary mini-series. The network had said it was attracted by Drummond-Webb's record at the time: 830 surgeries in 18 months with a 2 percent mortality rate.

In September, Drummond-Webb performed the first successful implant of a miniature heart pump in a 14-year-old boy with a heart defect, keeping him alive until a heart transplant was possible. The teen, Travis Marcus, was released from the hospital Thursday.

Travis' father, Rick Marcus, said the family talked to Drummond-Webb by telephone on Christmas and nothing seemed wrong.

''He was wonderful to the kids. The kids meant everything to him,'' Marcus said. ''You don't expect someone with that kind of vitality won't be with us anymore.''

He said his son was devastated by word of the death, and had ended the Christmas Day conversation by saying, ''I'll see you, boss,'' his nickname for Drummond-Webb.

In 2002, Drummond-Webb said the only reason he allowed ABC's cameras to follow him around for the four-part series on its ''Primetime'' news show was to get the message out about organ donation.

Earlier this week, the surgeon told The Associated Press: ''This is a high-risk business. We see children walking out, we also see children who do not make it.''

(Associated Press Writer Caryn Rousseau contributed to this report.)


AP-NY-12-26-04 1806EST

 

[strawberry]

OMG how awful! I just saw a clip on CNN Headline News yesterday about that kid and he was on there talking about it. I remember him from a show on Discovery Health, Lifeline I think and his work with pediatric heart transplants. They must not have known when they aired that story yesterday that he had done that. I'm a health inspector and one of my restaurant owners took his life a few weeks ago after I had been trying to get in touch with him regarding his license...I'm still reeling from that. Why would anyone like this doctor do this? It's soooo sad.

 

[Harpoon]

A great loss...


Drummond-Webb worked under Dr. Mee in Cleveland for a number of years and was close to par on skill level and ability, if not matching. He was also very well known for some advancements of his own in addition to the heart support device used as a bridge to transplant.


There are so few of these specialists around the world, let alone the US. I can't help but think of all the kids who were probably lined up and waiting to meet Drummond-Webb in the OR for a second chance on life.

Terrible loss.

 

[ericaj]

wow

wow

OMG -I am in shock! Although I didnt personally know the man I believe he was quite the inspiration for his patients and most probably his staff!! This is saddening!

Erica

 

[Kay]

There are so few of these specialists around the world, let alone the US. I can't help but think of all the kids who were probably lined up and waiting to meet Drummond-Webb in the OR for a second chance on life.

Terrible loss.

Harpoon, you're absolutely right. This is a tragedy for Dr. Drummond-Webb's family, friends and colleagues, but is a far bigger tragedy for all the parents out there to whom he represented hope. And think of his current patients in various stages of recovery and how devastating this loss is to them.

I was shocked and saddened this morning to read this news. Now I am also very angry as I grieve for all the precious children and their parents who saw this brilliant doctor as their hope for a normal life. I've read that there is no more selfish act than that of suicide. I would have to agree.

 

[Mary]

Harpoon, you're absolutely right. This is a tragedy for Dr. Drummond-Webb's family, friends and colleagues, but is a far bigger tragedy for all the parents out there to whom he represented hope. And think of his current patients in various stages of recovery and how devastating this loss is to them

Kay,
I'm sorry to disagree, but I find it presumptious to make such a statement. His family has enough heartache and misery to bear without strangers adding their own spin to it.
I believe that Dr. Webb's patients recognize that although they have suffered a grievous loss, it is not as great as his family and those he loved him.

 

[Kay]

Mary,

I don't mean to diminish the tragedy of Dr. Drummond-Webb's suicide to his family. It is unspeakable and in no way would I discount that. The loss to his family is enormous.

The world lost a brilliant heart surgeon who had possibly 40 more years of practice ahead of him. He has already given hundreds if not thousands of children a second chance at life in his stellar career. To calculate how many lives he would have saved and what he could have contributed to the world in 40 more years is impossible.

Yes, the loss to his family is unimaginable. But the impact of his death on his patients, future hopeful patients, and the medical community worldwide is enormous. It is a very sad and tragic loss to all.

 

[gemini1968]

I'm speechless. I was watching a show on Discovery Health just yesterday with him on it and I was struck by how truly stricken he was by any child he lost...he said that last at night when it's quiet he is haunted by those he could not save. How tragic.

 

[Harpoon]

Mary:

Not at all to diminish the loss to his family, but what if he was scheduled to perform surgery the next day or within the next week?

Manyn of these surgeons perform several operations a day, sometimes three or four days a week, not including possible emergency situations that could come up (mine was just such an emergency.) and usually there are only a handful, often less than three, such surgeons in a given facility that are capable of handling such demanding work.

I'm fairly certain that if Dr. Mee wasn't available to take me in when my valve completely failed that another doctor would have been able to take over and do the best that he could have done, but there were ONLY two other surgeons at Cleveland Clinic who were qualified to do what Dr. Mee did for me in March, 2003. They were both transplant specialists, one adult and the other peds. They weren't as adept in handling adults with congenital heart defects as Dr. Mee was.

The same could have been true for Drummond-Webb. Often these programs are built around ONE top-notch surgeon who may spend a year or more recruiting and organizing the staff he prefers to have on hand to operate such a specilized service. After a while, other surgeons working under the direction of these guys may move on to form their own teams in other hospitals. That's what Drummond-Webb did, learning under Mee until he was ready to start up his own team elsewhere.

Many families tend to flock towards these centers seeking out the specific specialties these surgeons provide. A young boy here went out to California to see a pediatric heart surgeon because he offered a repair to a condition that most other surgeons would have said "transplant" to. If that surgeon had stopped working for whatever reason before the boy was able to see him, what then?


Obviously the family of Drummond-Webb are experiencing a great loss, but they're not the only ones.

 

[Mary]

Harpoon,
What if he had been killed on the way to work that day? I disagreed with the statement that his family wasn't suffering as great a loss as his patients. Sorry, but I've learned that almost everyone is replaceable in terms of their job; no matter how valuable a service they perform. You can never replace the life of a loved one.

I don't think it is right to try and equate the two.

 

[Harpoon]

But see, I'm not trying to equate....


The loss is also devastating for his patients, I didn't say more or less, just that it was.

 

[Guest]

*scratches head*

A man has died...and we're more worried about who it impacts more...his family or his patients? Does it really matter?

*pauses*

Thoughts/prayers to his family and his patients.


Cort, "Mr MC" / "Mr Road Trip", 31swm/pig valve/pacemaker
'72/'6/'9/'81/'7, train/models = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/
MC Guide = http://www.chevyasylum.com/mcspotter/main.html

 

[Mary]

But see, I'm not trying to equate....


The loss is also devastating for his patients, I didn't say more or less, just that it was.

We are on the same page; we're just saying it in different ways. Let's pray that comfort and peace are granted to all touched by this tragedy.

 

[strawberry]

The description of a person whose absense would literally affect so many lives is very telling of the pressure he must have felt. Coupled with a probable tendency toward depression, it may have been simply too much. The thought that suicide is "selfish" simplifies the situation way too much. Selfish people are all around who don't do that and here is a man who devoted his life to saving children who sadly had a moment of despair that he followed through on. If he had a chemical imbalance causing clinical depression, he could no more have "cheered himself up" than we can will our valves to stop leaking.

 

[Glenda]

I agree with what everyone has said. Two years ago today my precious father-in-law committed suicide. I was the one who found him that day. It's a sight that will forever be in my mind. He lived in the farm across the street from us and I was checking on him like I did every morning to see if he needed anything. He must have done it just a few minutes before I got there. The gun was laying in his lap. I can remember being so angry at him for doing such a selfish thing. It was like he slapped God in the face. He took the control out of God's hands. All his grandchildren had a terrible time accepting that their grandpa that they loved so much could actually do this to himself. Finally I asked my pastor to sit all of them down and talk to them. He explained that when Grandpa accepted Christ many years ago that God forgave him of his past sins, his present sins and his future sins. There is no doubt in my mind that Dad asked forgiveness before he pulled the trigger. He had lost his wife of 62 years two years before and he never got over it. He had been sick with prostrate cancer and had to wear a catheter all the time. Here was a man that had been a very successfull farmer for years and he was at the end of his rope. He was beginning to have to depend on us kids for help. He didn't want to be a burden to anyone. We never know what goes through a person's mind when they get that desperate. It's not for us to judge. I sincerely believe God forgave him and I do too.

 

[Mary]

Bless your heart Glenda.
Your experience must still be terribly painful on the reliving. I think God gave you about the strongest shoulders of anyone I know.
Hugs,
Mary

 

[Marty]

Mental depression is a bad disease- more painful and in some cases more lethal than mitral valve prolapse or aortic stenosis. The personality type that is necessary to be a great surgeon all too often is prone to depression. These doctors feel they must be perfect and strong and do not seek help in time. They are not selfish but sick.....sometimes very sick.

 

[Shine_on_Syd]

Thank you Glenda for your touching post. You are right, it is not for us to judge Dr. Drummond-Webb. He had a powerful disease.

 

[Shine_on_Syd]

More about Dr. Drummond-Webb

http://www.nwanews.com/story.php?paper=adg&section=News&storyid=103127

 

[McCln]

Sometimes, the pressures can get so great that it is overwhelming. I pray his family will let his memory live on. He was a frontiersman in a world few will venture into. We will all remember him and keep his memory of his work alive and working.