How does Deluca die in Grey's Anatomy? Death explained 

Over the course of its long and illustrious broadcast journey, Grey's Anatomy has tackled a variety of subjects. Beginning from its debut back in 2005 all the way up to its present twenty-second season, Grey's Anatomy has masterfully chronicled the highs and lows of the interns, attending doctors, and nurses working at the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

While Ellen Pompeo's Meredith Grey has been the pivot around which most of the narrative on Grey's Anatomy has revolved, there have been significant supporting characters over the years, most notably Andrew Deluca, played by actor Giacomo Gianniotti. Here we take a look at Andrew Deluca's death on the show and its larger implications.

Andrew Deluca's journey and death on Grey's Anatomy explained

Andrew Deluca first appeared on Grey's Anatomy season eleven and was introduced as an intern working at the hospital. He was then romantically involved with Meredith for a while during the fifteenth season. However, his character is mostly remembered today for manifesting mental health problems on the show. Deluca was tormented by his deteriorating mental health, often betraying signs of mania that he seemingly had inherited from his father.

Deluca's poor mental health often got in the way of him discharging his medical duties in season sixteen. When he confided in Dr. Bailey about his concern for a patient whom he believed to have been a victim of human trafficking, the latter dismissed him. Deluca finally met his end after being stabbed while he was investigating the case of human trafficking. He breathed his last at the hospital itself.

Giacomo Gianniotti speaks about Grey's Anatomy and Andrew Deluca

Deluca spoke in an exclusive interview with Deadline back in March 2021 following the death of his character on the show. When asked about his initial reaction after being faced with the death of Deluca, Gianniotti revealed:

"It was about after the first couple of episodes. I was approached by our executive producers, showrunner Krista Vernoff and director Debbie Allen. They said, “Hey, we’ve been doing a lot of thinking about it, and we feel there’s an opportunity to tell a really, really beautiful story that is going to help a lot of people.” The story is that this human trafficking storyline that we had last season was so well viewed, and everyone really connected with that storyline because human trafficking is just such a huge problem globally, but also in the United States, and I think California is No. 1, where I live right now. It’s a very big issue, so I’m not surprised that the episode that centered on it was very important and received as it was by the fans."

He further added:

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"Because we had to shut down due to Covid, we didn’t get to finish telling that storyline. So, when we came back on June 17, they thought it would be great to bring back that storyline and close it out. What if we could catch that woman that trafficked that young girl, and what if DeLuca was to save the day but to lose his life in the process, to die a hero saving all these people and all these children who potentially could’ve been trafficked, but now will not be because the traffickers were stopped? And I just thought it was a beautiful storyline, I thought it was a beautiful way for the character to exit as a hero."

Grey's Anatomy is exclusively available on ABC.

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