On Monday afternoon, the lifeless body of a 56-year-old man was pulled from the sea in a cove near Mali Iž. Unofficially, it has been learned that the victim was Associate Professor Tomislav Sorić, MD, PhD, who led Zadar's Urology department for over a decade.
The Zadar Police Department confirmed that on Monday, August 10, 2026, 56-year-old Tomislav Sorić, MD, PhD, died in the sea near the island of Iž. According to police information, the report was received at 4:10 PM, regarding a man who jumped from a vessel into the sea in a cove near Mali Iž and did not resurface.
Immediately after receiving the call, all emergency services joined the search. The body was soon located, and the Morski portal reports that this happened as early as 4:15 PM, when it was spotted floating in the same cove. The competent state attorney's office was informed, and the ensuing investigation should shed light on all the circumstances of this tragic event.
Tomislav Sorić was born in Zadar on February 21, 1970. He graduated from the University of Zagreb School of Medicine in 1995, and two years later passed the state exam. He began his specialization in urology in 1998 at Zadar General Hospital, and passed his specialist exam in 2003. He further specialized in urological oncology, earning the title of subspecialist.
His academic path also included defending his master's thesis in 2006, dedicated to the treatment of kidney stones, at the School of Medicine in Zagreb. He received his doctorate in 2012 from the School of Medicine in Osijek. Since 2009, he participated in the education of students at the Zadar Nursing Studies program, and later earned the title of Associate Professor at the Department of Health Studies at the University of Zadar.
He took over the leadership of the Urology Department at Zadar General Hospital in 2014, succeeding Dr. Klaudio Grdović, who retired. He held this position for more than 12 years, and under his leadership, the Department became a reference center for minimally invasive surgery. As early as October 8, 2003, the first laparoscopic radical prostatectomy in Croatia was performed right in Zadar, and later, doctors from numerous other hospitals trained at this department.
According to data Sorić presented earlier this year, Zadar's Urology department cared for nearly 20,000 patients annually and performed about a thousand surgical procedures. His plans for the future included elevating the Department to the level of a clinic, strengthening scientific work, and introducing robot-assisted surgery.
In an interview with Zadarski list earlier this year, Sorić emphasized that medicine was a life calling for him, not an ordinary job. He also shared his view of the responsibility that doctors carry.
"Our working hours do not end at 3 PM; you are a doctor on weekends and holidays, and often patients or acquaintances intrude on our private, free time. Patients often approach us when faced with a cancer diagnosis, feeling helpless, and the doctor is like a light at the end of the tunnel. Every doctor who gives their all to cure their patient bears a great responsibility, and in case of failure, it is hard not to take it as a personal defeat. My personal motivation is to help the patient with all my knowledge and skills, because there is no salary or money that can replace that feeling when you save someone's life and enable them to continue living with their family and loved ones," Sorić said at the time for Zadarski list.
