We have already gone through the tragedies of Chicago Fire, so we thought it only right that we do the same for Chicago Med. The medical drama shares Fire's lighter tone, especially when it comes to personal subplots, but the professional stuff can get pretty hair-raising.
As with our Fire list, we wanted to place an emphasis on characters who worked at Gaffney Medical Center. That excludes family members and patients, in an effort to keep the emphasis on "main." The three deaths listed below remain devastating for their own distinct reasons.
Dr. David Downey (S1.E18)
Dr. David Downey (Gregg Henry) may not ring a bell to current fans, but he played a pretty significant part in the first half of Chicago Med's debut season. He was a wiley veteran who doubled as a mentor figure for Connor Rhodes (Colin Donnell).
Their closeness took a tragic turn, though, when Downey was diagnosed with liver cancer. The doctor's condition worsened as the season wore on, and Dr. Rhodes eventually delivered a lethal dose of morphine to his mentor when the pain had become unbearable. Not an easy watch.
Dr. Jason Wheeler (S2.E17)
Dr. Jason Wheeler (Jürgen Hooper) was an extremely skilled physician who suffered with substance abuse in season 2. The day-to-day stress that can with having people's lives in his hands proved to be too much, and his abuses issues spiraled out of control over the course of the season.
Wheeler's arc culminated in the episode "Monday Mourning." He showed up to work, in a seemingly very chipper mood, before going to the 10th floor balcony and jumping off. It was the most shocking death in Med history up to that point, and frankly, it remains near the top of the list.
Dr. Ava Bekker (S5.E1)
You may be noticing a tragic trend within these Chicago Med deaths, which is that they are the result of doctors taking their own lives. The trend continues in season 5, in what is still one of the most soap opera-esque plotlines in Med history. Dr. Ava Bekker (Norma Kuhling) decided to kill Rhodes' dad in an effort to fix her squandered romantic relationship with the doctor.
This did not work, and Dr. Bekker was the main suspect almost immediately. Sensing that she would not be able to get herself out of the situation, she severed her own carotid artory and eventually died on the operating table.
There have been several close calls in which other Gaffney employees nearly died, including Dr. Ethan Choi (Brian Tee) and Dr. Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson). Thankfully, they managed to make it out of their given ordeals in one piece.
Which Chicago Med death hit you the hardest?