“He brought his culture of innovation,” said Dr. Emond. “And his personal ability, his ability to work long hours, never quit, never give up, no matter how difficult the situation, and perform operations that many consider impossible.”
In his first year in Colombia, Dr. Cato and his team successfully operated on a 7-year-old girl, Heather McNamara, whose family had been told by several other hospitals that her stomach cancer was inoperable. The surgery, which involves removing six organs and then reinserting them, took 23 hours.
More and more patients from all over the country and around the world are looking for Dr. Cato to perform operations that other hospitals cannot or cannot do. He also began traveling to Venezuela to perform pediatric liver transplants and teach the procedure to local surgeons, and set up a foundation to help support work there and in other Latin American countries.
When Dr. Cato struggles to save him, the waiting list of surgery patients hanging on the hope that he will soon be able to save them.
Dr Pereira said there were signs of a gradual recovery.
He said, “You came so early in the morning to see him.” The hospital corridor was empty and everyone looked at each other, scared and worried. You go to the ICU for fear of bad news, and the team gives you a kind of optimistic thumbs-up that might look better.”
Dr. Kato spent about a month on the ventilator and a week on ECMO. Like many people with severe Covid, he experienced hallucinations, frightening delusions, and clarity. In one, he was captured at the Battle of Waterloo. In another case, he was accidentally infected with anthrax. Only a hospital in Antwerp could save him, but he couldn’t get there. He saw the white light that some described after a near-death experience. “I felt like I was dead,” he said.
He spent most of his adult life in the hospital, but was never sick.
He said, “I’ve never been sick.” “I have never faced a statement of death.”
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