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What killed Rob Sweitzer? Could his life have been saved if he had been seen earlier in St. Mary's emergency room? These are the questions torturing his widow, Rachel, and no doubt the entire emergency team the night he died. Rob — a healthy 39-year-old who worked out regularly — felt like he was getting a cold on a Friday night in early February. Even so, he and Rachel — both dedicated animal-rescue volunteers — got up Saturday morning and went to work at a local cat shelter. But by afternoon, he felt worse, coughing and losing energy and suffering intense pain in his lower back.

For eight long, agonizing hours, the young woman sat beside her husband in a Tucson emergency room, terrified as he fought unbearable pain and struggled to breathe. She begged the people in charge for help. She was told to go sit down. It would be many more hours. There were many people ahead of them who already had waited far longer. When her husband, 39-year old Rob Sweitzer, was finally summoned to see a doctor — at 2:30 a.m. — it was too late.