THE widow of Professor Jim Dornan has said she is "shattered with grief" following the renowned medic's death last week.
Dr Samina Dornan described the Belfast obstetrician as her "soulmate, a best friend, a brain-mate and an intellectual partner".
Prof Dornan (73) passed away in a Dubai hospital last Monday after contracting coronavirus.
He moved to the Middle East two years ago to join his wife, where she headed up the maternal foetal medicine department at King's College Hospital in Dubai. He was appointed to oversee the department at the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland in Bahrain.
Dr Dornan singled out her husband's championing of women's reproductive rights and said he was a "real warrior".
"I am shattered with grief; he has taken my soul with him," she said.
The couple met in 1999 and married three years later.
Professor Dornan's first wife, Lorna, passed away in 1998 from pancreatic cancer.
"He mentored me through medicine, and I mentored him through an international life," she told the Belfast Telegraph.
"I taught him about other religions and cultures and how important they are in human life, and he embraced that more than I had ever embraced them. I didn't expect the pupil to surpass the teacher, but he did."
She added: "I will miss him terribly. We were so much more than just a married couple.
"We opened doors and windows for each other. I'll miss the conversations with him, and his great sense of fun.
"The loneliness of losing our relationship will never leave me".
Professor Dornan was admitted for routine knee surgery last month and had already received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
His oxygen saturation level dropped three days later and doctors diagnosed a pulmonary embolism and pneumonia.
He then tested positive for Covid-19, despite obtaining a negative result two days before his surgery. As his condition deteriorated he was put on a ventilator and suffered a fatal heart attack.
Professor Dornan is survived by his widow, daughters Liesa and Jessica, and son Jamie, the actor.
