The Savannah morning news., 1904-04-10
HOW 1T FEELS TO DIE.
Doctor Describes Sensation of DiIa-
ton of the Heart.
From the New York American.

ton of the Heart.
From the New York American.
With death a bare ten minutes
\ away. and his frame racked by the
| most terrible tortures a man may en-
4 dure, Dr. Stephen Paul Truck, stricken
| down with a fatal attack of acute d-
! lation of the heart, calmly and in the
| cold language of science described to
/ his fellow physicians the physical phe-
nomena of the stroke that was caus-
ing his life to ebb like the sands from
a broken hour glass.
| 1t was one of the most remarkable
| incidents in the records of medical sci
| ence. Heretofore the physician by
the side of an patient dying of heart
failure caused by extreme dilation
has been able merely to guess at the
character of the suffering. basing his
| conjecture upon the aimless, pain
born cries of the victim, but DR..
Truck, stricken at the side of the OPP
| Grating table and dead within ten
minutes, spent every second Of that
time is describing to fellow physi-
clans for the sake of the science he
| loved the mental and physical char
acterstics of the last minutes of life
| lost in such manner. His last words
were those of endearment and bless
ing for the family he had left.
| DIR. Truck, one of the most noted
gynecologists and lecturers upon OBJ
stetrics in New York, was stricken
down while performing an operation
| yesterday in Bushwich Hospital in
| Brooklyn.
Asked to Perform Operation.
DR.. Truck. at 1870 O'Clock in the
| morning, was summoned to the hos
pital from his home at No. 257A Madi-
son street to operate upon a patient
| WI daSn1ira6 Of
tor complained of being greatly fatig-
ued and of suffering from grip. He
| asked for and obtained some spirits
| frumenti, and then, apparently reviv-
ed, entered the operating room and.
| knife in hand, began his work. His
work was of the most delicate nature
known to surgical science, and required
not only a steady hand but intense
| concentration. For thirty minutes he
| worked, and suddenly, while in the
act of successfully finishing the opera
| ton, gave a groan of agony and cry
ing out: It's come. My God, it's
comet" he reeled from the operating
table. and as the knife fell from his
nerveless hand he sank into the arms
| of DIR. Herman Herman.
At the same time that DR.. Truck
sustained the heart shock, Dr. George
Everson, one of the other physicians
in attendance at the operation realiz-
llB lHdl QUICK anu certain WOrk was
| necessary to save the life of the pa
tient who was under chloroform, pick
ed up the knife that had fallen from
DR. Trucks hand and without a trem-
or, proceeded to finish the operation
as DR.. Herman, Miss Ellingson and
one of the nurses carried the now sense
less form of DR.. Truck out of the
operating room into the bedroom of DIR.
Herman. There he was undressed and
placed upon the bed
Realized He Was Dying.
Stimulants were administered
through the nose and mouth by DR..
Herman, and within five minutes DR..
Truck opened his eyes and whispered:
There is no use trying to save me- |
am dying, my friends, from acute dill
tation of the heart. Listen, DR.. Her
riman, and l will give you my sensa-
tions."
Then. as Dr. Herman and Miss ELL
ingson listened to the dying man, he
said:
MY body feels like a wave upon
the ocean. 1t seems to be rising and
pitching about. The agony is indie
scribable. My heart seems pounding
against its walls My heart is burst
ing. My lungs feel as If they were be-
ing pressed together by an enormous
wise. The action of the heart is now
not so intense. seem to be losing the
faculty of Sensations My heart is
/ barely moving. ] am dying. my
friends. Give my love to my wife
and children. 1t is the end"
Shortly after DR.. Trucks dying
words. his distracted wife and SON
in-law Frank E. Coates. arrived at
the hospital in an automobile from
his Madison street home. Mrs Truck
had been informed at o'clock that
her husband was i'll at the hospital
and, fearing the heart attack that her
husband had been expecting for some
time past. she hurriedly dressed and,
accompanied by Mr.. Coates, vainly en-
deavored to reach the hospital in time
to hear her husbands last words.
"Dr. Truck died as a brave man
can" said DR.. HERMAN last night.
Il attribute his death to intense APP
plication to his profession. to over
work an an immoderate use of tobacco.
He has been working sixteen and
twenty hours per day recently and his
system was simply overtaxed and worn
| out"
Died Like Brave Man.
DR.. Truck was born in Owego and
was As years of age. He had a large
family practice, was a lecturer at the
Post Graduate He was a graduate of
the Long Island City College in the
class of 81. He was a member of the
Royal Arcanum. the Independent Or
der of Foresters, National Provident
Union and the Junior Order of Ameri-
can Mechanics. His wife. one daugh-
ter, Mrs. Frank B. Coates. and one
son, Edward H. survive him.
"A friend sized up the huge bulk of
Secretary Taft and asked: "Mr. Taft.
how much do you weigh ?" You re-
member" answered the secretary,
that Tom Reed, in answer TO a SINH
lar inquiry, said: No gentleman
weighs more than 200 pounds Well.
I have revised that dictum. No gem