Grim CCTV has emerged, showing a doctor in Belgorod, Russia punching a patient in the head. The shirtless patient then falls to the floor, and later died.
Russian media nicknamed the attacker “the boxer doctor.” Russian authorities are investigating. The doctor has been fired, and faces up to two years in jail, for causing death through negligence.
From a martial arts perspective, the incident macabrely illustrates the dangers of fighting. Martial arts and combat sports should only be used legally, in the face of danger. Punching someone out of anger can leave you a murderer, facing jail time, and a lifetime of a tortured conscience.
The incident was reportedly caused by the shirtless patient kicking a nurse. The solidly-built doctor in scrubs can be seen dragging the patient from the examination table, asking him “why did you touch the nurse?” The MD then shoves the patient out the doorway, and strikes him once in the face. The bare-chested man then falls to the floor with a large crash.
The doctor then tussles with another man accompanying the patient. Time passes before medics notice that the patient is not moving, and attempt to revive him.
The doctor was identified as Ilya Zelendinov, a surgeon at the facility. The deceased has been identified as Yevgeny Bakhtin, 56.
“The cause of death of the victim was trauma to the skull and brain from hitting the back of the head on the hard surface of the floor,” reported an investigator.
The relatively minor charge reflects the fact there is “no grounds to say that the doctor wanted to murder the patient,” said investigators. “If the victim had stayed on his feet or hit his head on a less hard surface, the consequences would not have been so critical.”
Patients Russia have little recourse in the face of medical errors. Twice in the past year patients have shot doctors at hospitals and then committed suicide, following grievances over care. It is hope that the incident may serve as a catalyst for reforms.
The fact remains however that a well executed punch can render someone unconscious, while standing. The body then goes limp, and can crash to the ground. If the blow was such that the victim is knocked backwards, rather than crumpling downwards in a heap, then the body can act in the manner of a whip, and unfold with the head hitting last at great speed.
Even on the safety of a mat, this has caused death, repeatedly, in boxing. On unforgiving concrete, stone, tile, and brick, the damage is compounded.
