The death of Princess Diana shocked the entire world. Since that fateful moment decades ago, there has been much scrutiny about almost everyone involved. This includes Diana herself, her driver, her wealthy companion, and the paparazzi who are generally blamed for causing the car accident that led to Diana’s death.
One person that few people have paid attention to is the surgeon who tried to save Diana’s life. Who is this man, and what does he remember from the doomed attempts to save Diana’s life?
Keep reading to discover more about this heroic doctor and the moment that forever changed his life!
Meet the surgeon who tried to save Princess Diana
The surgeon who had the dubious honor of operating on Princess Diana is named MonSef Dahman. He was young and very early into his career, and the last thing he ever expected was to have to operate on someone who was arguably the most popular living Royal Family member of her time.
Originally, Dahman wasn’t even scheduled to work that day, meaning he wouldn’t have been the one to operate on the princess. But because his wife was pregnant and they had decided to stay in Paris until their second child was born, Dahman decided to work another shift at the hospital. At the time, the young surgeon considered extra hospital time a great way to get experience and make connections, though he had no idea that he would soon have the surgical experience of a lifetime!
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The irony of that fateful day
It was already ironic enough that MonSef Dahman ended up operating on Princess Diana despite not being scheduled to work that day. However, there was a further irony to this whole grim incident: up until Diana was brought in, Dahman was having one of the easiest possible days at work.
That night, he reported that he hadn’t faced any difficult cases, making it a super easy day by the standards of a surgeon. However, Princess Diana was brought in at 2 a.m., two hours after her car crashed in a tunnel in Paris. Just like that, the young doctor’s shift went from being very easy to being the worst night of his life.
Intense pressure on the young doctor
When MonSef Dahman was summoned to perform surgery, he wasn’t actually told who he would be working on. Imagine his surprise when he walked into the room and discovered that it was none other than Princess Diana, one of the most famous people in the world, that he would be performing surgery on.
Unsurprisingly, this caused him to feel a great deal of pressure. He had only come to work that day, and now the life of “The People’s Princess” was in his hands. Dahman knew that no matter the outcome, this surgery was going to define the rest of his career and, indeed, the rest of his life.
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Many attempts to save Diana’s life
In retrospect, the attempts to save Diana’s life were doomed from the start. Once she came to the hospital, X-rays revealed that she needed an immediate blood transfusion due to her major internal injuries. She had already suffered from a cardiac arrest after the crash, and she experienced another one only fifteen minutes after her arrival at the hospital.
At first, Dahman and the other doctors were confident they could save Diana’s life. However, it was difficult to stabilize her, and the team tried many different techniques to get her heart working. This included adrenaline, cardiac massage, and electric shocks. Sadly, nothing worked, and Princess Diana died that night.
That night continues to haunt the surgeon
Most of the fans who loved her can remember exactly where they were when they found out that Princess Diana had died. Her death has continued to haunt her biggest supporters for decades. Meanwhile, since her life was in his hands, Diana’s death continues to haunt MonSef Dahman.
In later interviews, the surgeon has admitted that he often thinks about that fateful night when Diana passed away. He feels bad they were unable to save her, but at the same time, the surgeon is adamant that he and the rest of the team did everything they could to save the life of this beloved princess.
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Surrounded by grim reminders of Diana’s death
Certainly, the memories of that awful night would be enough to haunt MonSef Dahman. However, he doesn’t need memories or even nightmares to fully remember what the world lost when Diana died. In fact, book publishers have ensured that!
Over the years, there have been many books published about the life and death of Princess Diana. According to Dahman, many publishers send him complimentary copies because they think he will be interested in reading them. In reality, the surgeon doesn’t like these books because he hates being surrounded by awful memories of this difficult and failed surgery.