"I was wavering between life and death": Minister Dacic opens up about health ordeal

Photo: Tanjug/Jadranka Ilic

Deputy PM and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic spoke a month after overcoming a serious health condition to reveal the details of the fight for his life, that he said began on February 25.

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That day around 15:00, he arrived at the Clinical Center of Serbia, not realizing the seriousness of the situation.

"A month. Exactly one month ago, on that terrible and dark day of February 25, I was between life and death. This is the first time I am sharing some details related to those days with you," Dacic said in a post on his official Instagram account, and continued:

"That day, around 15:00, I arrived at the Clinical Center, I went in alone without any help, unaware that it could be the last afternoon of my life. As I usually do, I said hello to everyone and asked them how they were doing. The doctors looked at each other - why am I walking on my own, how can I do it?! I was not aware of what it all meant even when I was taken urgently to the intensive care unit at the Pulmonology Clinic."

This is where Dacic said he was treated by two doctors who saved his life.

"I was greeted by two doctors, who turned out to be my personal heroes, who saved my life and healed me. Their names are Spasoje and Zdravko (first names derived from Serbian words for "salvation" and "health"). So much symbolism, (for them) to save me and to heal me! Spasoje Popevic told me that he owes me a debt of gratitude, that his son was shot in Ribnikar (elementary school in Belgrade that was the scene of mass shooting) and that I, as (then) Minister of Foreign Affairs, helped him get a US visa under urgent procedure (for the boy to be treated in the US), and that he never had the opportunity to thank me. Another doctor, Zdravko Brkovic, told me that the late Patriarch Irinej is his maternal grandfather and that I helped them while the patriarch was alive. I had never seen those people before and now someone will say that it is all a coincidence, that they happen to be the ones who saved my life," said Ivica Dacic.

The minister revealed that at one point his condition was extremely difficult.

"I sent the last message to my wife around 19:00 (on Feb. 25). Zdravko tells me that my (oxygen) saturation dropped to 42, that I lost consciousness, that he connected me to a machine. And so for five days and nights, as my name Ivica (Serbian word for "edge") predestined me, I wavered between life and death," stated Dacic.

The minister said he woke up on March 2, his late father's birthday.

"I woke up in the morning, my late father Desimir's birthday. I don't remember anything, except for that moment of reawakening, which I was sure I'd seen before," said the minister.

Ivica Dacic thanked the doctors and medical staff, as well as everyone who was with him with prayers and support in the most difficult moments. He stressed that he is still recovering and undergoing medical examinations, but that he expects to resume his regular duties soon.

"People, take care of your health, do good deeds, because goodness is rewarded with goodness. You worry about all sorts of things, but you realize that only one Judgment is important, His (God's)! Thank you to everyone who, with your prayers and concern, helped me overcome that terrible trial. Nothing in life is by chance. God's ways are miraculous. I returned to life, hoping to be worthy of the task. I thank all the doctors and medical staff at the Pulmonology Clinic. I am still undergoing examinations at the Clinical Center, thank you to everyone who is taking care of me. When I am discharged next week, God willing, I will continue where I was supposed and told to be," Dacic concluded.

(Telegraf.rs)