Man Dies From Heart Failure After 43 Hospitals in Three States Couldn’t Accommodate Him

An Alabama man died this month following a cardiac event after staff at his local hospital called 43 hospitals across three states and couldn’t find him a bed in an intensive care unit, NBC News reports.

Ray DeMonia, a 73-year-old antique dealer and owner of DeMonia’s Antiques and Auctions, died on Sept. 1, according to a family obituary. DeMonia died at Rush Foundation Hospital in Meridian, Mississippi—an hour north of Birmingham—as COVID cases in Alabama continue to rise and patients fill up hospital beds. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the state has one of the highest rates of new cases, with 541 per 100,000 testing positive in the last week. 

DeMonia’s family encouraged others to get vaccinated to prevent what DeMonia went through.