Cory Jay and Rachelle Kelly with their baby, Levi Jay. (Julia Cook/CBC)

A P.E.I. couple is urging the Ghiz government to convince the province's only vascular surgeon, Dr. Peter Midgley, not to resign by hiring another doctor to share his workload.

They said on Sunday that they personally experienced the value of the surgeon, on Jan. 24, when Rachelle Kelly went into labour.

Complications required the Island's vascular surgeon. He spent 10 hours in the operating room and fixed the problem.

Cory Jay is Kelly's partner and the father of their child. He said that he doesn't know what would have happened if a vascular surgeon wasn't there.

"They would have flown her to Halifax, but there's a lot of time involved in getting a helicopter ready from Halifax, getting a helicopter over here. You don't want to have to think that you need to be flown in these circumstances," Jay said.

The Island's only vascular surgeon says he is overworked. (CBC)

He said that money should not be the primary concern on this issue.

"It's great that we can look after it. As Islanders, no one here is looking to save money by not keeping this doctor here. It's important for us to keep him here."

Midgley announced his resignation a day after Rachelle Kelly's surgery, saying he's leaving because he's overworked.

He came to the Island with his specialty of operating on blood vessels more than four years ago. Midgley told CBC News in January that he's officially on call for emergencies during the day on weekdays and one evening a week.

In reality, he has been on call 24-7. Midgley said he would consider staying on P.E.I. if health officials hired another vascular surgeon.

In February, Health PEI announced a short term response that would see vascular surgery for Prince Edward Islanders done in Halifax, with some office visits available on the Island.

Kelly and Jay have created an online petition asking the provincial government to convince Midgley to stay on the Island by hiring another doctor to share his workload.