Alabama Man Suffering From Heart Issues Dies After 43 Hospitals With Full ICUs Allegedly Turn Him Away

An Alabama man has passed away from heart issues after allegedly being turned away by 43 hospitals with full ICUs.

As the number of COVID-19 patients continues to grow and take up hospital beds, those looking for medical attention can hardly find it. That’s the story of 73-year-old Ray Martin DeMonia. In August, DeMonia suffered a cardiac event and was immediately taken to his local hospital, Cullman Regional Medical Center in Cullman, Alabama.

However, when he arrived, the hospital told his family that they couldn’t take him because the facility was completely filled with patients struggling with issues related to COVID-19. DeMonia was then transferred about 200 miles out from Cullman to Rush Foundation Hospital in Mississippi after emergency personnel at Cullman Regional Center allegedly couldn’t find any available cardiac ICU beds in the area. DeMonia was allegedly turned away by 43 hospitals in three states.

On Sept. 1, DeMonia died just three days before his 74th birthday. His family wants everyone to know about the seriousness of getting vaccinated for COVID-19.

“In honor of Ray, please get vaccinated if you have not, to free up resources for non-COVID-related emergencies,” DeMonia’s obituary reads, according to PEOPLE. “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.”