Warren Buffett shares near-death experience in farewell letter: ‘Surprised by my luck in being alive’
In a letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders on Nov. 10, legendary investor Warren Buffett paid tribute to his 95-year-old life by reflecting on the near-death experience he had during an appendectomy in 1938.
“As Thanksgiving approaches, I am grateful and amazed at my good fortune to survive at age 95. When I was young, that outcome didn’t seem like a good bet. I almost died in the beginning,” Buffett said.
In the same letter to shareholders, Warren Buffett announced that he would stop writing annual reports. He will step down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway by the end of this year and will be replaced by Greg Abel.
Warren Buffett, who was born and raised in Omaha, described how in the 1930s citizens classified hospitals according to the two denominations of Christianity (Catholic or Protestant); “a classification that seemed natural at the time.”
Raised in a Protestant home, Buffett shared a friendly bond with his family’s Catholic doctor, Harley Hotz. Recalling fond memories of his family doctor, Buffet said, “Dr. Hotz called me Skipper and never charged much for his visits.”
Warren Buffett’s near-death experience
Warren Buffett suffered a severe stomach ache in 1938. Dr. Hotz visited him and, after a brief examination, assured Buffett that he would be fine in the morning.
The doctor returned home and had dinner; but he could not take his mind off the strange symptoms. Later that night, he sent Buffett to St Catherine’s Hospital for an emergency appendectomy.
What is appendectomy?
Appendectomy involves the surgical removal of the appendix, a small sac attached to the large intestine, to treat appendicitis, which is essentially inflammation or infection of the appendix.
Is appendicitis surgery fatal?
Appendicitis surgery is not usually life-threatening, but an untreated ruptured appendix can be dangerous because the infection can spread into the bloodstream. Although appendectomies are common and generally safe, all surgeries carry risks, such as infection at the incision site, bleeding or adverse reactions to anesthesia, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
‘I felt like I was in a nunnery’: Buffett’s recovery days
After undergoing appendectomy, Buffett embraced his community and enjoyed chatting during his recovery days. She shared a humorous anecdote about her teacher writing letters to her classmates and valued the notes the girls wrote.
“For the next three weeks, I felt like I was in a convent and began to enjoy my new “podium.” I loved talking—yes, even then—and the nuns embraced me. Plus, my third-grade teacher, Miss Madsen, told each of my 30 classmates to write me a letter. I probably threw away the letters from the boys, but I read the letters from the girls over and over again; Buffett said the hospitalization paid off.
He talked about the professional fingerprint set that had been a special gift from Aunt Edie during his recovery days. He took fingerprints of all the nuns who attended St Catherine’s, pointing to a unique interaction between them as a Protestant child.
“The highlight of my recovery, which was actually precarious for most of the first week, was a gift from my wonderful Aunt Edie. She brought me a very professional-looking set of fingerprints, and I immediately took all of my nuns’ fingerprints. (I was probably the first Protestant child they had ever seen at St. Catherine’s and they didn’t know what to expect),” she said.
