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, PhD, tragically 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 upon receiving the call, all emergency services joined the search. The body was soon located, and the portal Morski reports that this happened as early as 4:15 PM, when it was spotted floating in the same cove. According to the portal 057.info, after five minutes, when the search had already begun, Sorić surfaced in a lifeless state. The competent state attorney's office was informed, and the ensuing investigation is expected to shed light on all circumstances of this tragic event.
Tomislav Sorić was born in Zadar on February 21, 1970. He graduated in 1995 from the University of Zagreb School of Medicine, 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 Zagreb School of Medicine. He received his doctorate in 2012 from the Faculty of Medicine in Osijek, with his doctoral dissertation focusing on the clinical impact of prostatic calculi. Since 2009, he participated in educating students at Zadar's Nursing Studies, 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 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 annually cared for nearly 20,000 patients and performed around a thousand surgical procedures. His future plans included elevating the Department to the level of a clinic, strengthening scientific work, and introducing robot-assisted surgery. As Jutarnji list reports, Sorić particularly emphasized the introduction of robotic surgery among his professional goals.
In an interview with Zadarski list earlier this year, Sorić emphasized that medicine was a life calling for him, not just a job. He also shared his views on the responsibility that doctors bear, especially in their relationships with patients facing serious diagnoses, which, as he often said, can last for years.
"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 turn to us when they are faced with a cancer diagnosis, feeling helpless, and the doctor is like a light at the end of the tunnel. It is a great responsibility for every doctor who gives their all to heal their patient, 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 told Zadarski list at the time.
The news of his death has shocked colleagues and numerous patients whom he helped over the years with his knowledge and experience. He leaves behind the legacy of a doctor who devoted a large part of his professional life to the development of urology in Zadar and to patients whom, as he often said, he sought to help with all his knowledge and skills.
