Man Dies From Heart Failure After 43 Hospitals in Three States Couldn’t Accommodate Him

An Alabama man died after staff at his local hospital couldn't find him an ICU bed at surrounding hospitals because of the surge of COVID cases in the state.

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An Alabama man died this month following a cardiac event after staff at his local hospital called 43 hospitals across three states and couldn’t find him a bed in an intensive care unit, NBC News reports.

Ray DeMonia, a 73-year-old antique dealer and owner of DeMonia’s Antiques and Auctions, died on Sept. 1, according to a family obituary. DeMonia died at Rush Foundation Hospital in Meridian, Mississippi—an hour north of Birmingham—as COVID cases in Alabama continue to rise and patients fill up hospital beds. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the state has one of the highest rates of new cases, with 541 per 100,000 testing positive in the last week. 

DeMonia’s family encouraged others to get vaccinated to prevent what DeMonia went through.

“In honor of Ray, please get vaccinated if you have not, in an effort to free up resources for non COVID related emergencies,” the obituary read. “Due to COVID 19, CRMC emergency staff contacted 43 hospitals in 3 states in search of a Cardiac ICU bed and finally located one in Meridian, MS. He would not want any other family to go through what his did.”

DeMonia’s family also shared that Ray “traveled the country gathering antiques and sharing his wealth of knowledge” and was “like no other.”

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