He calls himself a "victim" and takes responsibility for his actions. Guido Oppido, the cardiac surgeon who performed the operation on little Domenico Caliendo—who had received a damaged heart transplant—rejects the idea that he is primarily responsible for the child's death.
He did so in front of the cameras of the program "Lo stato delle cose," hosted by Massimo Giletti on Rai 3. According to reports, in an attempt to avoid questioning, he had a tense confrontation with the crew, first running away down the stairs of the building and then falling during his escape. Finally, in front of his front door, he let out a rant.
“I did my job. I saved three thousand children.”
Oppido, defended by lawyers Vittorio Manes and Alfredo Sorge, has so far maintained public silence. He spoke only in a meeting with Monaldi management on December 30th, seven days after his December 23rd surgery.
To the crew, however, the cardiac surgeon reiterates: "I operated well, I did my job well, I am a victim: I have saved three thousand children since I began operating in Campania." And again: "I have wasted eleven years of my life operating on children here in Campania. Eleven years, three thousand children, three thousand of them I have operated on. I am going through all this because I tried to help other people's children."
The investigation and the question about "heart health"
Oppido is under investigation for manslaughter and has been suspended from the Monaldi Hospital. His most vocal reaction, in the story, comes when he is asked about the alleged "OK heart" message and the suggestion that the removal of the young patient's heart may have been rushed before the donor organ arrived in the operating room.
To that question, the doctor replies: "We'll discuss all these wonderful things with the judges. I only know that I did these things well, I did them right, so I'm the victim." He adds: "I don't deserve to be treated like this. I did everything I had to do, and I did it well. Talk to all the people I've operated on, who are desperate, who are close to me."
“Someone put dry ice”
As for what went wrong, Oppido says he can't explain and concludes with a hypothesis: "What went wrong? I can't tell you: someone put dry ice instead of regular ice."
Source EDITORIAL TEAM
Comments (1)
Reading this article, I don't know what to think. The story seems confusing, and we need to wait for the facts, not the gossip. The doctor claims to be a victim and to have saved three thousand children, but the dates and sentences are unclear; a serious investigation and more precise information are needed.