2005

Michael DeBakey, age 97, suffers an aortic dissection, and, despite urgings of wife and family, declines surgery. However, hospital’s ethics committee allowed the operation DeBakey himself had invented to proceed. It was successful, and several months later, he was frequently seen in the hospital gym doing his rehab workout. He returned to work and lived two more years, dying a few months before his 100th birthday (Morris, loc 1482ff.).