The point isn't really the length. It's the overly sentimental tone that blurs subjective perspective and the matter being reported on. There's a point in the piece were the author asserts that everyone in the operating room seemingly stared at each other not knowing why they were there followed by the author fantasizing if the patient may rise from the dead.

That's almost certainly not what happened in the room but is the author blurring his almost literary account with reality. It's a very common almost manipulative style in newer journalism when writers want to contrast their emotional state vs an allegedly harsh reality.