Posted on 08/17/2003 2:11:14 AM PDT by demkicker
An aspiring missionary doctor, who was voted by medical school classmates as the epitome of a good physician, was killed Saturday at Christus St. Joseph Hospital when an elevator malfunctioned, decapitating him, authorities said.
Hitoshi Nikaidoh, 35, of Dallas, a surgical resident at the hospital at 1919 La Branch, was stepping onto a second-floor elevator in the main building around 9:30 a.m. when the doors closed, pinning his shoulders, said Harold Jordan, an investigator with the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office. The elevator car then moved upward, severing the doctor's head, Jordan said.
"It is an unexpected and tragic loss," said Dr. Hisashi Nikaidoh, Hitoshi's father, from his Dallas area home. "He is an outgoing and very caring person."
A woman who also works at the hospital was on the elevator at the time and witnessed the accident, police said. Because of the malfunction, she was trapped on the elevator for 15 or 20 minutes before firefighters were able to reach her, police said.
The woman was not injured, but was later taken to the emergency room because she was in shock, said Sgt. Kenneth Perkins of the Houston Police Department's Special Operations Division.
Nikaidoh was on duty at the time and wearing his doctor coat and surgical scrubs when the accident happened, Jordan said.
The scene was one of chaos when police and firefighters first arrived at the hospital, Perkins said. Medical personnel were in disbelief, some crying.
"They were trying to console one another. Just to see other people in disarray -- the looks on their faces pretty much told the whole story," he said.
Police have launched an investigation into the accident. St. Joseph Hospital officials have taken the entire elevator bank out of service, but normal patient services have not been interrupted.
Hospital officials would not answer any questions Saturday about the accident since the investigation has just begun. They also would not reveal the name of the elevator manufacturer.
One worker at the hospital said there had been problems in the past with these particular elevators and that maintenance crews had been trying to service them in the past week, Perkins said.
Nikaidoh was a member of the 2003 class of the University of Texas-Houston Medical School, where he previously served as Student InterCouncil President, the student-leader over six schools within the medical center.
He became a devout Christian while in medical school, his father said. He became a youth group leader and decided to become a missionary doctor.
Hospital spokeswoman India Chumney Hancock would not discuss Nikaidoh's background or how long he had been with the hospital. "In respect for the family, we're not giving out any information," she said Saturday.
"Since the investigation has just begun, we're not answering any questions at this time," she said.
Both city and state inspectors will review the fatal accident, said a licensed elevator inspector who served on the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation Department advisory board.
"Annual inspections are required, and I'm familiar with that hospital building and know they have a contracted (maintenance) company," said Alan Van Nort, a member of the state's Elevators, Escalators and Related Equipment Advisory Board.
Van Nort said he also is familiar with another hospital elevator accident earlier this year that injured 14 passengers, including 12 patients, at the Intracare Hospital in the Texas Medical Center area. The elevator dropped several floors before jerking to a stop and broke several passengers' bones and hurt backs and necks.
But hospital elevators are not inspected any more intensely than office building elevators, Van Nort said.
"The city has primary responsibility for inspections, and then reports of any incident go to the state for review," he said.
Mignette Yvonne Dorsey, spokeswoman for the City of Houston Building Services, said the city would be tracking the inspections done by the City Planning Department's inspectors. But there was no specific inspection information available from the city Saturday night.
I'm not into theology that has every problem tied up in neat answers, either. I will probably be accused of being an athiest troll, but I have to wonder where God is when horrible, stupid things like this happen. Does God have a plan for everything? Did He just one day decide, "I think I'll decapitate a missionary today." I think it is better to admit that there is no answer than to try to weave some rationalization that makes God look like a child who tortures animals. Once one has lived long enough and has been touched by enough tragedies, easy, painless answers become impossible.
I can imagine the missionary getting to heaven and asking the Lord, "I was going to help a lot of people, so why did You allow me to be killed in a stupid accident?" The Lord might answer, " I see you are from Stupid Planet. Things like that happen on Stupid Planet all the time. I had nothing to do with it -- Stupid Planet's warranty expired a long time ago. I know that Stupid Planet is under bad management, but every time I go down there to try and fix things, I get kicked out. (God shrugs.) What can One do?"
We live in a beautiful world -- and it wants to kill you!
The Creator made us in his image and, therefore, we are also creators...on a lesser scale. As such, we create what we experience: the good, the bad, and everything in between. That's why it's flawed...we are learning. If God created it, it would be flawless.
Even showed the guts and everything!
Carlow Nationalist, 12/17/1999.
THE TRAGIC death last week, following an accident at her home, of 15-year-old schoolgirl Dymphna Byrne of Coolrus, Clonegal, numbed and shocked the entire east Carlow, south Wicklow and north Wexford areas.
Dymphna, a Junior Certificate student at Coláiste Bhride Vocational College, Carnew, was about to leave home for school. It is understood she was going upstairs when she fell and struck her head.
Dymphna was removed to Naas County Hospital and was later transferred to Beaumont Hospital, where she was placed on a life-support machine. She died the following evening . . . .
Could it also be that it's being spent on advertising the hospital on television, in newspapers and on radio?
I remember a time when hospitals didn't advertise as there was no need to do so. It seems to me I'm always seeing commercials for hospitals now as well as the constant drug pushing (prescription drugs).
Advertising in the long run, usually is productive in paying for itself and generating new income. Hospital advertising has been going on for years, so I assume it's working.
That leaves me asking about the negative impact of illegal aliens on the financial well being of a Houston hospital. Houston may be the illegal alien capital of Texas.
The woman was not injured, but was later taken to the emergency room because she was in shock,
Understatement of the Millennium.
To match our Third World electrical grid, dontcha know?
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