A Sudanese doctor leads a team to rescue a rare case, becoming “the only survivor in the world”
Ontario-Canada 1-26-2026 (SUNA) – The medical and scientific community celebrated a unique scientific achievement in which a Sudanese doctor living in Canada, Professor Dr. Mohieddin Ahmed was able to save the life of a Canadian girl from certain “clinical death” after she contracted a mysterious disease resulting from infection with the highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) virus in British Columbia, Canada.
The media and scientific periodicals in Canada published Dr.’s achievement. Mohieddin, a Sudanese doctor specializing in cardiovascular surgery, was able to manage the so-called complex operation, where artificial perfusion of the heart and lungs was performed in Canada as part of an exceptional medical achievement, which contributed to saving a patient suffering from a rare case of bird flu, an infection that does not usually affect humans.
This means that all vital processes take place outside the patient’s body, such as the work of the heart, lungs, kidneys, and all vital organs, while the virus is treated and the blood is cleaned from it, and then the vital processes are returned to their normal course, knowing that the situation was completely hopeless and required intervention and thinking outside the box, which is what Dr. Mohieddin, by virtue of his specialty and in cooperation with a Canadian medical team.
Professor Mohieddin is the same Sudanese-Canadian surgeon who contributed greatly to performing open-heart surgeries and congenital deformities on children in Sudan, providing treatments, medicines, and medical devices, and even training dozens of pediatric cardiac surgeons. He was one of the pillars and leaders of the Sudanese and Canadian Surgeons Association before the outbreak of war in Sudan.
As for the patient’s condition, as reported in the Canadian media and in the specialized scientific journal, you can imagine a person whose body has reached a point where all vital indicators have stopped and the disease has reached its end, as the virus that she was infected with is unique in its kind, but the joyful thing is that after managing the case in a complex manner, she became the first internationally registered girl to leave the hospital walking on her feet, which was considered a medical achievement published in one of the largest and most reliable medical journals. Globally.
The case was an infection with one of the rarest cases of avian influenza viruses, as highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses spread among wild birds, and are endemic in poultry in some regions of the world, with transmission to a wide range of terrestrial and marine mammals.
Since 1997, sporadic transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses from animals to humans, mainly from poultry, has been reported in 25 countries. Recently, local infections have been reported in the Americas due to strain 2.3.4.4b of the virus. Most human infections recently discovered in the United States have been relatively mild, but critical illness has been reported in several countries.
In this medical case, the first local case of highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) virus appeared in Canada, which was in a 14-year-old girl, who developed a severe illness that required prolonged intensive care.
The girl was infected with virus strain 2.3.4.4b, genotype D1.1, showed signs of cytokine storm, and received several treatments including combination antiviral therapy, renal replacement therapy, therapeutic plasma exchange, and invasive mechanical ventilation support with intravenous extracorporeal life support.
The girl recovered and left the hospital for her home without needing any additional support. A(H5N1).
At a moment when life was quietly withdrawing from the body of the Canadian teenager, science stood face to face in the face of one of the most dangerous viruses of the era, and triumphed, as in November 2024, the child, Jocelyn Armstrong (14 years old), was admitted to the British Columbia Children’s Hospital suffering from symptoms that initially seemed like a normal flu, high fever, red eyes, and a cough.
But within a few days, the scene turned upside down. The oxygen in her blood decreased, her lungs collapsed, and her body organs began to fail one by one.
The diagnosis was shocking: the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus – a rare strain that does not usually infect humans, and carries genetic mutations that make it more deadly and able to adapt within the human respiratory system. Here, the medical protocol is no longer sufficient.
In the intensive care room, a multidisciplinary medical team gathered to make the difficult decision: either surrender to an almost certain course of illness, or risk everything provided by the latest modern medicine technologies.
Among the leaders of this team was the Sudanese doctor specializing in cardiovascular surgery, Dr. Mohieddin Ahmed, one of the prominent names in the scientific paper that later documented the case in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases, under his supervision and with the participation of his colleagues, the bold decision was taken, which was to operate an artificial lung (VV-ECMO) as a last resort after complete failure of the lungs and therapeutic plasma exchange to suppress the devastating “cytokine storm” and combined treatment with multiple antivirals, dialysis after kidney failure, and invasive artificial respiration for a long period.
The battle was against time, and against a merciless virus, and for days, the devices were performing the functions of an entire body, the artificial lung breathing instead, purifying the blood, and the medical team monitoring the most accurate indicators, hour by hour, or rather minute by minute.
After the ninth day, the first scientific miracle began, a gradual improvement in lung function, and on the 15th day ECMO was disconnected, on the 21st day the breathing tube was removed, on the second day the kidneys regained their function, and the surprise was on the 24th day when the virus disappeared from the respiratory samples, after that Jocelyn was discharged from the hospital, walking, breathing, and smiling again.
The Canadian newspaper The Lancet Infectious Disease, which published the scientific study and report last week, January 23, 2026, indicates that “this patient is the only known case in Canada,” and according to available data, “the only survivor in the world” after undergoing this advanced medical intervention. This case has been published in major medical journals, including The Lancet Infectious Diseases and NEJM.
This achievement is not limited to medical progress only, but rather embodies a true story of hope when the family comes together with an integrated medical team and advanced medical care is harnessed, even in the most critical moments.
Canadian newspapers reported a photo of Dr. Mohieddin Ahmed in medical uniform, smiling next to the patient and her parents, a smile that includes knowledge, love and dedication, led to this brilliant success, and Dr. Mohieddin, the owner of humanitarian initiatives and contributions, was not just a participant, but one of the main leaders of the case, and a reference in applying complex techniques that made this patient the only known survivor worldwide of this dangerous strain.
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