Grey's Anatomy fans launch petition to bring Dr. McDreamy back

Dr. Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd won't rest in peace if die-hard Grey's Anatomy fans have their way.

More than 70,000 viewers have signed a Change.org petition to have writers of ABC's medical drama bring back Patrick Dempsey's beloved character who was killed off in a stunning episode last Thursday night.

"You cannot have people invest a decade into a character and then you just terminate them like that!" writes petition creator Courtney Williams in an open letter to Grey's Anatomy showrunner and writer Shonda Rhimes.

​"Why would you do us like this? Dedicated and die-hard fans! We DO NOT deserve this!" 

Williams's comments echo the feelings of thousands of fans who turned to ABC's official Grey's Anatomy Facebook page to express their rage after Shepard died after being blindsided by a truck.

It happened after the heroic physician stopped to care for victims of a horrific car crash.

The poetic irony surrounding his death seems to have further enraged fans.

"You bring back his infamous words, 'It's a beautiful day to save lives,' have him wrap a girl's intestines in dry cleaning wrap then kill him off like that!" rants Williams. "You do not DO THIS TO LOYAL FANS!" she added.

Rhimes hints at more surprises

Williams suggests that Grey's Anatomy's "brilliant" writers could right the situation by making the pivotal events of the episode all a dream.

Rhimes, who created the show in 2005, hasn't publicly responded to demands to bring Dr. McDreamy back to life. But in a statement published by the Hollywood Reporter, Rhimes hinted that there would be more surprises in the show's upcoming episodes.

"The possibilities for what may come are endless," she wrote. 

As for Dempsey, the American actor and race car driver who inhabited the character for 11 seasons, he still had one season left on his contract when Derek was killed off.

McDreamy's death seems to have come as a bit of a surprise to the 49-year-old actor.

"It just kind of happened," Dempsey told Entertainment Weekly. "[Being written off] was something that was kind of surprising and uh, just naturally came to be."

"I like the way it has all played out," he added.

There were rumours that Dempsey, who had recently taken a six month hiatus from the show, was written off over friction with Rhimes, but Dempsey said he was leaving the show in a good place with his fellow actors.

When asked specifically if that was also true with Rhimes, Dempsey simply said "Yes."