Beloved Doctor Struck By Car Hours After Retiring Dies

PITTSBURGH, PA - After spending decades compassionately caring for patients, Dr. Nosratollah Danai retired last Friday. Hours after seeing his last patient and closing his office for the final time, he was struck by a car near his home.

Dr. Danai died on Wednesday from his injuries. He was 80.

A native of Iran, Dr. Danai obtained his medical degree there before he and his wife immigrated to the United States and settled in Pittsburgh. He completed his residency at McKeesport Hospital before becoming a family practice physician. He opened his own practice in 1989 and had his office on Bailey Avenue in Mt. Washington.

“He enjoyed making house calls, rounding in the hospitals and nursing homes and gave free medical advice to all who asked,” his son, Sam Danai, noted in a Facebook post on his father’s passing.

Mere hours after treating his last patient, Dr. Danai walking home from a nearby community center when he was struck by a car at the intersection of Shady and Aylesboro avenues in Squirrel Hill. The driver stayed at the scene. It could not immediately be determined if police intend to file charges in connection with the accident.

Tributes to Dr. Danai poured in on social media. Danielle Coppinger, who was his patient for more than three decades, recalled the house calls he made to her grandmother when she was battling cancer. She said the doctor gave her his personal cell phone number so she could call him directly.

“I can go on and on about all the memories I have,” she wrote. “I know you’re in a better place now. I’m sorry your life got cut short.”

Another patient, Barbara Hoffman, posted, “Rest in peace Doc, and thank you. He saved my brother's and my mother's life in the last 25 years. He was very smart and just knew things.”

Sam Danai posted: “While I am bitterly disappointed that he did not get a chance to enjoy his retirement, there is something poetic about this tragedy occurring on the day that he closed his office and saw his last patient.”

A memorial service for Dr. Danai will be held March 30 at 10 a.m. at Heinz Chapel on the University of Pittsburgh campus in Oakland.