The doctor who desperately tried to save Pompeii's victims

A Pompeii victim found in the vineyard later called the “Garden of the Fugitives” carried a medical kit while fleeing Vesuvius’ eruption. The kit indicates the person was likely a physician, or medicus, who may have been prepared to treat injured people. The group gathered for shelter but was overtaken by deadly gases and superheated ash. A pyroclastic flow struck refugees attempting to leave through Porta Nocera, preventing escape. The eruption produced cascading ash and gas at extreme temperatures and high speeds, entombing victims in hard layers. Ash casts and plaster models preserved details of about 104 victims, including the newly identified medic discovered through earlier plaster casting work.

"The man was carrying a medical kit with him as he fled Vesuvius' deadly eruption, a new study has revealed. This indicates he was a physician, or a 'medicus' in Latin, who may have been attempting to treat others injured in the disaster."

"Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, said in a translated statement: 'Even two thousand years ago, there were those who didn't practice medicine, limited to office hours, but simply were doctors, at all times, even when fleeing the eruption.' 'This man brought his tools with him to be ready to rebuild his life elsewhere, thanks to his profession, but perhaps also to help others.'"

"However, Mr Zuchtriegel says that this heroic effort was 'thwarted by the pyroclastic flow that struck the group of refugees attempting to leave the city through Porta Nocera.' The eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD was one of the biggest natural disasters of the ancient world, killing at least 2,000 in Pompeii, Herculaneum and other nearby towns."

"Many were killed as they attempted to flee the volcano's pyroclastic flow, an avalanche of gas, ash and rock reaching 800°C (1,500°F) and travelling at 450 miles per hour (700 km/h). These cascading ashes entombed the victims, setting into a hard layer that captured their final moments in incredible detail."

Read at Mail Online