US man dies from heart problems after Covid patients fill ICU beds

A US man has died from heart problems, after being turned away from 43 hospitals because all the ICU beds were filled with Covid patients.

The family of an Alabama man who died of heart issues is urging people to get vaccinated after they say he was turned away from 43 hospitals in three different states because Covid-19 cases were taking up all the ICU beds.

Ray Martin DeMonia of Cullman died in a Mississippi hospital on September 1, just three days before his 74th birthday, according to his obituary.

When Mr DeMonia suffered a heart attack, local emergency staff started searching for a cardiac ICU bed for him, the New York Post reports.

Alabama man Ray Martin DeMonia died from heart issues after being unable to find an ICU bed in a hospital. Picture: Dignity Memorial

His family said Mr DeMonia was turned away from 43 hospitals because their ICUs were full and staff were stretched thin amid a surge in Covid-19 cases fuelled by the highly contagious Delta variant.

Emergency workers finally located an available bed at Rush Foundation Hospital in Meridian, Mississippi – about 320km away from his home. However tragically Mr DeMonia died.

In the wake of his death, his family used his obituary to urge people to get vaccinated.

“In honour of Ray, please get vaccinated if you have not, in an effort to free up resources for non-Covid related emergencies,” the obituary said.

“He would not want any other family to go through what he did.”

Hospitals across the US are overflowing with Covid-19 patients. Picture: Mario Tama/Getty Images/AFP

Mr DeMonia was a well-known Alabama antique dealer and had worked in the industry 40 years, his family said. He is survived by his wife, daughter and grandson.

As of Monday, Alabama’s health department was warning there was a high level of Covid-19 community transmission across the state.

More than 2400 Covid patients were in hospitals in Alabama, according to health department data.

According to the Alabama Hospital Association, in late August the state had 1537 staffed ICU beds but 1601 patients in need of one.

So far, 1.8 million people in Alabama have been fully vaccinated, which is only about 35 per cent of the state’s total population.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and has been republished with permission