Dr Dimitrios Kabanaros, 41, left a four-page letter as to why he committed suicide by shooting himself after COVID-19 entered Nea Thalpi, an aged care facility he owned at Agio Stefano, north east of Athens.
He left behind four hand-written pages explaining his act after he himself also tested positive to COVID-19.
Greek newspaper Proto Thema reports he had scheduled a meeting with staff members of the facility at 10am Wednesday to discuss COVID-19. When he also tested positive he took it to heart and it is believed that this influenced his decision to take his life. He shot himself in the head with a hunting gun and pulled the trigger twice after a blockage was noted the first time.
“I am tired. And I probably wasn’t a good captain. I loved my job. I made a mistake, and I caught COVID-19 after all of that,” he wrote, adding that he hoped that his mother and sister not cry for him for more than a year.
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People who knew him say he seemed to show a genuine interest for the vulnerable, especially the elderly. In an older interview with Proto Thema before his death, he had expressed the need for “more tests at aged care units”. He had told the newspaper that he was testing residents for COVID-19 weekly at his own initiative and that is how they found the first cases at Nea Thalpi.
Dr Kabanaros stated he had created the aged care facility in honour of his grandmother, Artemis. An award-winning professional in geriatrics, his death shook the local community.
Dionysos Mayor Yiannis Kalafatelis added a post on Facebook expressing his deepest condolences following the death of Dr Kabanaros.
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