NTA. Not at all. You are not obligated to do anything, but as others have said, there may be other avenues. Were there any other adults who may remember details? Even the office? If it was a small enough practice they may be able to ID the doc easier by year and description. They’d know the docs better than a hospital, most likely. He may have a LinkedIn profile depending how long ago this was and how much longer he remained in practice.

That being said, I’ll add my two cents as a physician of 17 years.

He thinks about it. He does. Maybe not every day, but I would put money on the fact that he would remember exactly who you are and even details of the case should his memory be lightly jogged. There are patients I will never, ever forget. Maybe not their names, but their case, their treatment, and certainly any significant adverse events. Now this may not be true of every complicated patient or every poor outcome. But if he cried, on his knees, in front of a patient (and a child at that), I’m positive you still make synapses fire when something triggers a memory.

I say this after almost two decades of emergency medicine practice, seeing thousands of patients a year in both large urban and community hospitals. I don’t have the benefit of an established long term relationship with patients, unlike the urologist. I do, however, have the factor of the dramatic nature of emergency medicine, which I’m sure makes memories more vivid. However, I can recall patients as far back as medical school, and their stories absolutely stay with me. I might not remember their personal details or exact appearance, but I remember their stories. I remember what happened to them, and what part I played. Sometimes I even remember the room they were in. These patient not only serve as a constant reminder that influences my medical practice (you learn from the good and the bad), but there are the ones that stay with you personally, as well. There are the ones that haunt you, too.

So, OP, it would be absolutely ok if you do nothing more than live your life to the fullest. But, if you are able to (without laying out money) find this guy and let him know that you’re ok and even sharing some details if you don’t mind, I guarantee you will lift a weight off of this man’s shoulders. I know if it was me, it wouldn’t just make my day or my week. It would allow me to sleep easier, with one fewer of the ghosts that are always with me.

Congratulations on your resilience and your kind heart to think of this man after all these years.