Compiled by Kevin Canessa
An up-and-coming doctor, originally from Brazil but who called Kearny home, and who was just days away from moving to Boston for his dream job as an attending ER physician at a hospital there, died tragically following an 82-foot fall while on vacation in Spain with his fiancée.
Dr. Daniel Sirovich, 34, was hiking on a small island in Spain with partner, Kristi Kelly, 28, originally of Staten Island, when he reportedly slipped and fell to his death, Euro Weekly News, an online news agency, reported last week.
According to that report, on Aug. 14, on the Island of Ibiza: “An off-duty nurse attended to the victim initially before emergency services arrived, but there was nothing that could be done to save the man. Guardia Civil called for helicopter support to airlift the body away, but decided to recover the victim by land in the end.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help defray the costs of Sirovich’s funeral and to transport his body back to the United States. It has already raised $42,000+, some $12,000 more than the initial campaign goal.
On that site, someone called Gui Ramos, of Jersey City, organized the fundraiser for Sirovich — and offered details about the man whose life was so horridly cut short.
“Danny was, by far, the person with the most life that we had the pleasure to meet. He gave 120% in everything he did, from his studies, to work, to loving Kristi, his family and friends,” Ramos wrote. “To living life to the fullest and truly enjoying each and every moment, seeing the whole world and appreciating every detail in music, he sacrificed 16 years of his life into his studies and work (where he finished top of his class in medical school), finally reaching his life’s ultimate goal this year. He was moving to Boston in 10 days for the position he waited so long for, to be a doctor in the intensive care trauma unit. Someone who saved many lives and didn’t receive the opportunity to have someone save his.”
A Google search revealed Sirovich performed his emergency-medicine residency at Kendall Regional Medical Center, Miami. He listed his passions as “music and traveling.”
“Music is life,” he said in his bio. “Everything else is background noise.”
Just days ago, Sirovich took to his Facebook page to announce he was at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, preparing to depart for Spain.
“When life throws you rain and wind, you find a sunny place and to dance together with some amazing people,” he wrote.
And, just a few days before that, the man whose clear mission was to save lives, lamented over the senseless killings a few weeks ago in Texas and Ohio.
“There are no words to describe how it makes me feel waking up this morning, to find out that there have been two mass shootings in less than 24 hours, with 30 people dead and multiple wounded with horrific injuries,” he wrote. “Sometimes we do not realize how precious but fragile our lives are …
“Having the experience of have trained/worked at a level 1 trauma center, I have seen firsthand the amount of effort and work that takes when multiple traumas come in. To run even three multiple traumas at the same time at the proper/perfect way to give that person the best chances of surviving, it honestly take all you have available resources. From doctors, trauma nurses to even blood available.
“To imagine some colleagues having to deal with 10 to 15 severe traumas at the time, is something unimaginable and I don’t wish on anyone. To have to make the choice of what patient you will put your efforts on, and who you know you will have to let die … it’s more than just a difficult choice — it’s heart breaking. My heart goes out to all families and people affected by such horrific actions.
“All I wish at this time is that I could maybe have been near those places and offer any sort of help I possibly could, because we are all conductors for each other and we need to do all that we can do to make this rock we live in a better place. Truly sad today.”
Meanwhile, Kelly, Sirovich’s fiancée, is reportedly studying to be a physician’s assistant, also in South Florida, according to a report in the Staten Island Advance. That report also indicates the couple was supposed to have attended a rained-out event in England the day of the tragedy. But since that event was called off, the two made alternate plans in Spain.
The same report indicated Sirovich slipped while attempting to take a photo overlooking a beach, according to Kelly’s mother, Mary Ann Kelly.
Sirovich was “the most beautiful soul you’ve ever met,” Mrs. Kelly told the Staten Island Advance. “He wanted to save people. It’s all he wanted to do.”
Sirovich’s funeral arrangements were not immediately known at presstime. However, be sure to check www.theobserver.com during the course of the week, where we’ll share those details when they become available. Visit www.gofundme.com/f/paying-tribute-to-dr-daniel-sirovich-dannyboy if you wish to donate to his fundraiser.
Learn more about the writer ...
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, a place where he has served on and off since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on Facebook Live, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to West Hudson to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.