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| Dr. Ibrahim Othman |
(CNN) -- A Syrian doctor who became one of the country's most wanted men has been killed trying to flee to Turkey, opposition sources said.
Dr. Ibrahim Othman, 26, was a founder of the Damascus Doctors, a network of doctors that secretly treats wounded protesters who are afraid to go to government-run hospitals.
A video purporting to show him dead, and including shots of what appear to be his passport, was posted on YouTube on Saturday. CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the video.
Friends and colleagues described him on a Facebook memorial page as "strong and fearless, with a pure heart."
Well known for his love of pranks, Othman said he was born to help people -- a desire that may have ultimately cost him his life.
In July, he showed CNN a secret treatment center where he works, a tiny room with basic equipment and supplies.
"It's illegal, but this is the only way to treat injured demonstrators," he said.
He knew he was putting his life on the line.
"Yeah, I know that, but the demonstrators, they are risking their life too, so we have to help them," he said.
There was little the Damascus Doctors could do for many of the wounded, he conceded.
"We spend all of our life to help people, and it's so hurtful to see people dying. And we cannot do anything," he said.
Some wounded protesters could be saved if they went to hospitals, Othman said. But there were risks involved.
"They refuse to go the government hospitals because they will be arrested," he said.
The director general of Damascus Hospital rejected that claim.
"We accept all cases without regard as to how the injuries were sustained or where It happened," Dr. Adib Mahmoud said.
But many do not believe it.
"They would detain me if I went to the hospital," said a teenaged patient of Othman's who said his back was cut when Syrian security forces dragged him over broken glass.
In the end, Syrian security caught up with Othman too, his friends and colleagues said -- as he feared they would.
"Every time when I leave home, I say goodbye to my mother," he told CNN when asked in July about the hardest part of his life. "Sometimes I feel I won't be able to come back and see her again."
Dr. Ibrahim Othman, 26, was a founder of the Damascus Doctors, a network of doctors that secretly treats wounded protesters who are afraid to go to government-run hospitals.
A video purporting to show him dead, and including shots of what appear to be his passport, was posted on YouTube on Saturday. CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the video.
Friends and colleagues described him on a Facebook memorial page as "strong and fearless, with a pure heart."
Well known for his love of pranks, Othman said he was born to help people -- a desire that may have ultimately cost him his life.
In July, he showed CNN a secret treatment center where he works, a tiny room with basic equipment and supplies.
"It's illegal, but this is the only way to treat injured demonstrators," he said.
He knew he was putting his life on the line.
"Yeah, I know that, but the demonstrators, they are risking their life too, so we have to help them," he said.
There was little the Damascus Doctors could do for many of the wounded, he conceded.
"We spend all of our life to help people, and it's so hurtful to see people dying. And we cannot do anything," he said.
Some wounded protesters could be saved if they went to hospitals, Othman said. But there were risks involved.
"They refuse to go the government hospitals because they will be arrested," he said.
The director general of Damascus Hospital rejected that claim.
"We accept all cases without regard as to how the injuries were sustained or where It happened," Dr. Adib Mahmoud said.
But many do not believe it.
"They would detain me if I went to the hospital," said a teenaged patient of Othman's who said his back was cut when Syrian security forces dragged him over broken glass.
In the end, Syrian security caught up with Othman too, his friends and colleagues said -- as he feared they would.
"Every time when I leave home, I say goodbye to my mother," he told CNN when asked in July about the hardest part of his life. "Sometimes I feel I won't be able to come back and see her again."
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