Loved ones and colleagues are mourning a beloved Brooklyn doctor who went over and above to help his patients. Dr. James A. Mahoney died of covid-19 on April 27. He was 62.
When the pandemic hit Dr. Mohoney went weeks without much sleep, reported NYT. He was doing triple duty at the University Hospital of Brooklyn’s intensive care unit (ICU) during the day, Working at Kings County Hospital Center at night and having telemedicine visits with his regular patients from home.
Despite the heightened risks because of his age, Dr. Mahoney’s boss Dr. Robert F. Foronjy said he was always willing to help patients when necessary.
“There were people who were really reluctant to go into the rooms, and you could understand why,” Dr. Foronjy said. “He saw another human being in need, and he didn’t hesitate to help.”
Dr. Mahoney had spent his 40 years in medicine on the front lines of epidemics, attacks and natural disasters. He refused to heed the pleas of his family, friends and colleagues who begged him to “take a break” and save himself, the NYT said.
In the end, he traded his life to save others.
“One of the sad stories of this pandemic is that we’re losing people that we couldn’t afford to lose,” Dr. Foronjy told NYT.
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It is a loss that had devastated the largely poor, Black community Dr. Mahoney served as a physician and educator. His former student who nor works in internal medicine Dr. Latif A. Salam told NYT just how much Dr. Mahoney impacted he and his peers.
“As a young black man, I looked at this guy and said to myself, ‘Twenty years from now I want to be like him,’ Salam said. “When a black medical student, a black resident sees him, he sees a hero. Someone that you can be one day. He’s our Jay-Z.”
From giving bonuses to his staff from his own pockets to giving his patients his personal contact numbers and making house calls, Dr. Mahoney wasn’t your average physician.
“Not only did he heal people’s bodies, he healed their minds and their souls,” said Dr. Mahoney’s longtime office manager Michelle King.
His brother, Dr, Melvin Mahoney, told NYT despite being the elder of the two, he looked up to his brother.
Any problems I had with my patients I’d bring to him,” he said. “He’s very patient, in contrast with me. I will bend over backwards for the patients, but he had another gear.”
When Dr. Mahoney contracted the virus and his condition took a critical turn for the worse, he was rushed to a wealthier hospital with better equipment.
Unlike so many other covid-19 victims, he was able to see colleagues who’d become loved ones over the years. He didn’t die alone.
“I got to visit him, hold his hand,” Dr. Foronjy said. “And he knew how much I loved him. And he knew how much everyone here loved him. We said a lot of things that week that needed to be said.”
