(NewsNation) — Dr. Komi S. Folly was at Saint Francis Hospital when the Wednesday shooting happened at the Tulsa health care facility.
He is also a good friend of Dr. Preston Phillips, who was one of four people killed in the shooting. The gunman later also died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
“I was in the hospital (Wednesday) and I went to see a patient in the ER. I came down to my office, and as soon as I get into the office, my daughter called me and said, ‘Daddy, there is an active shooting at St. Francis, where are you?'” Folly said.
“I was trying to call (Phillips), the phone was ringing, and I found out that my friend, my father, had his phone in his pocket when he was there.”
Folly spoke Thursday night during an appearance on NewsNation’s “Banfield” about his dear friend and colleague.
The two met after they both took care of a “very complicated case” at St. Francis Hospital.
“The compassion, the talent that he showed at that time, connected both of us,” Folly said.
Before Phillips’ death, he and Folly had started the Light in the World Development Foundation, with a mission to build up communities by ensuring access to clean water, quality education and affordable health care.
They also worked on medical missions together in Togo, a country in West Africa.
“The reason (Phillips) chose to be on the ground himself, is because in that country, women are the backbone of the families. They carry their merchandise on their head … and at an early age, they destroy their knees, become disabled, (their) family becomes poor,” Folly said. “And he decided that we can do something about it.
On the Friday before the shooting, Phillips made a special request of Folly.
Folly didn’t know it at the time, but that turned out to be Phillips’ last request — to continue the work of their foundation. It’s a request Folly said he’ll do everything possible to honor.
“He said to me, ‘Son, I am older than you.’ He always joked with me. I said, ‘I know, father.’ And he said that ‘in case something happened to me, or I die before you, don’t stop this project,'” Folly said.
On another appearance on NewsNation’s “Morning in America,” Folly said it is important for the Light in the World Foundation to continue.
“If these projects go down, it’s like I killed my brother a second time because his legacy will be gone,” Folly said.