Two doctors provided first aid following attack in Kraków – one treating the gunman
After the attack in Kraków, two doctors who happened to be present treated the injured – one of them the seriously wounded gunman. "It does not matter who someone is," said one of them.
Kraków doctors save police officer and attacker after fatal attack
Michal Pędziwiatr and Mateusz Wierdak were having lunch with their families in the centre of Kraków when gunshots rang out. "Dad, someone is shooting at people, people are falling to the ground," said Pędziwiatr's son. According to 20 Minuten, the two doctors rushed outside shortly afterwards.
In the attack, six people were killed and 16 others wounded – including a police officer who had stopped the attacker Michal O. Pędziwiatr took over the care of injured passers-by as well as the seriously wounded gunman himself. Wierdak focused on the police officer, who had been shot in the chest during the exchange of gunfire.
"When it comes to saving lives, it does not matter who someone is," Pędziwiatr told the newspaper Fakt. Wierdak had applied all available bandages to the officer's chest wound and exerted manual pressure. "Without this help, I do not know how it would have turned out. We had to wait a long time for the ambulance," Pędziwiatr said about his colleague's efforts.
Pędziwiatr simultaneously contacted John Paul II Hospital, which has a department for thoracic and cardiac surgery, and insisted on transporting the police officer there. "In my assessment, he had the best chance of survival there. Specialists work there for precisely this type of injury," he explained.
According to local media, Wierdak is a renowned surgeon in Kraków. According to Kraków University Hospital, Pędziwiatr heads the department for general, oncological, metabolic and emergency surgery.
Source: 20 Minuten