Dr. Mitesh Badiwala, cardiac surgeon, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, helped lead a multi-disciplinary medical team in a complicated ‘marathon’ surgery on Christopher Scott, 33, whose heart was extensively damaged and had to be rebuilt. (Photo: UHN)
Healthy and active with no history of heart trouble, few could have predicted that Christopher Scott of Scarborough, Ontario, would quickly spiral into a life and death struggle, while becoming a 'medical rarity' that pushed cardiac surgeons at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre to chart new, unfamiliar ground to try and save the 33-year-old's life.
Led by cardiac surgeons, Dr. Mitesh Badiwala and Dr. Christopher Feindel, Scott underwent what has been dubbed the 'UFO surgery' – underscoring just how rare the more than 10 hour surgical procedure was.
![Image of Dr. Mitesh Badiwala](/corporate/News/PublishingImages/Pages/UFO_procedure_propels_cardiac_surgeons_into_new_territory/Badiwala_Mitesh.jpg)
“He would have died anywhere else. This story is an example of what we are capable of here.” Dr. Mitesh Badiwala, cardiac surgeon, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (Photo: UHN)
“Worst case I have seen in my 30-year-career.” Dr. Christopher Feindel, cardiac surgeon, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (Photo: UHN)
Scott's journey and the marathon surgery that saved his life recently garnered national media attention.
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