A rescue operation involving hospitals on Leros and Rhodes and a helicopter medical transfer crew helped stabilise a seriously injured Turkish man before he was transferred to a hospital in Istanbul.
Health minister Adonis Georgiadis described the case in a post on X and published a message of thanks from the patient's son.
According to the minister, the Turkish citizen was found seriously injured on Leros and was taken immediately into Greece's National Health System for treatment.
The rescue operation and response by the Leros and Rhodes hospitals, together with the medical transfer crew, stabilised the patient and enabled his onward transfer to Istanbul.
Mr Georgiadis said the patient's son had sent him a warm message late the previous evening to thank him and, above all, the National Health System for handling a difficult case with great professionalism.
The minister wrote that this was the National Health System at the moment someone needed it: whoever they were, it would be there for them.
In the message published by the minister, Sina Kinay said he and his father would remain forever grateful to the doctors and nursing staff at the general hospitals of Leros and Rhodes, as well as the pilots and medical personnel involved in the helicopter transfer between the two islands.
He said the care, professionalism, compassion and warmth shown while his father was diagnosed and treated represented humanity at its best and were qualities anyone would hope to encounter in a moment of need.
He added that over the preceding 48 hours the team had embodied every principle of the Hippocratic oath, confirming once again that Greece was the birthplace of modern medicine.
The message in full
Dear Minister Georgiadis,
Please forgive me for sending this message so late in the evening. My father and I would like to thank you warmly for your help in enabling us to return home.
We are forever grateful to the doctors and nursing staff at the general hospitals of Leros and Rhodes, and to the pilots and medical personnel who took part in the helicopter transfer flight between Leros and Rhodes.
The care, professionalism, compassion and warmth with which they diagnosed and treated my father are examples of humanity at its best and qualities anyone would wish to encounter in a moment of need.
Over the past 48 hours, this incredible team embodied every principle of the Hippocratic oath, confirming once again that this great country is the birthplace of modern medicine.
We will remain forever grateful for your wholehearted support and for the extraordinary efforts of everyone involved in my father's care.
With deep gratitude and respect, Sina Kinay.
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