Rwandan Doctor in Israel Credited with Saving Man’s Life During Cardiac Crisis

TEL AVIV, Israel – A Rwandan surgeon training in Israel is being hailed as a hero after helping to save the life of a 71-year-old man who suffered a cardiac arrest just moments before undergoing heart surgery.

Dr. Jean de Dieu Nsanzimana, a fellow in congenital and paediatric cardiac surgery at Wolfson Medical Center, was among the first responders when patient Roni Moshe collapsed in July. According to hospital officials, Moshe was signing surgical consent forms when the tumor blocking his mitral valve caused his heart to stop.

Dr. Nsanzimana immediately began performing chest compressions as the medical team worked frantically to restore the patient’s heartbeat. The team successfully resuscitated Moshe, placed him on a ventilator, and rushed him to the operating theatre.

During the emergency procedure, surgeons removed an 8-centimeter tumor from Moshe’s left atrium. Dr. Hagai Dekel, director of the hospital's Adult and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Division, noted that Moshe’s decision to seek immediate care for his symptoms was critical to his survival.

For Dr. Nsanzimana, the experience was deeply personal. "Saving lives in Israel is an incredible honor. Israel and Save a Child’s Heart have done so much for my country," he said in a statement.

Nsanzimana is training at Wolfson through a fellowship supported by Save a Child’s Heart, an organization that provides life-saving cardiac care to children from developing nations and trains medical professionals from around the world.

Upon completion of his five-year fellowship, Dr. Nsanzimana is expected to return to Rwanda to work at King Faisal Hospital, where he is poised to become the nation’s first pediatric cardiac surgeon.