Northwell orthopedic surgeon Peter Sultan, 54, dies competing in Jamesport Triathlon

The word Dr. Peter Sultan’s family associates him with is love. He loved his two children and his family. He loved his patients. He loved playing the piano. He loved athletic pursuits. And, they said, he loved helping people.

Sultan, an orthopedic surgeon at Northwell Health’s Peconic Bay Medical Center, where he specialized in hip and knee replacements, died while participating in the Jamesport Triathlon on Sunday. He was 54.

"He collapsed during the third leg of the triathlon, and they were unable to revive him," said one of his three sisters, Dr. Marla Sultan, of Short Hills, New Jersey. "Very unexpected."

The PBMC Northwell Health Jamesport Triathlon involved a 500 meter swim in the Peconic Bay, a 25K cycling ride through various communities, and finished with a 5K run, according to the event's online description. Dr. Agostino Cervone, director of robotic surgery at Peconic Bay Medical Center, said Sultan was a regular Jamesport Triathlon participant.

"He did this almost on a yearly basis. He ran various marathons, including New York City. He trained. He was physically fit," Cervone said. "He was an avid bicycle rider. He did these triathlons at different times."

Sultan's sisters said his death was "devastating." They highlighted their brother's legacy of devotion to family and to the wider community. "He really loved helping people," said another sister, Jessica Fields, of Northport. "He was good at everything. He played piano by ear. He was a cyclist ... There’s so much to say," she said.

Most of all, "he loved his children," 16-year-old Elizabeth and 14-year-old William. "They were everything to him," said Marla Sultan. He also was devoted to his parents, Burton and Marilyn Sultan, who also survive him, the sisters said. "He was so good to our parents," Marla Sultan said. "He took really good care of them," she said of their parents, who visited Long Island regularly from Florida.

Peter Sultan, who at the time of his death lived in Westhampton, was born in Mineola. According to his LinkedIn profile, Sultan obtained a bachelor's degree from Harvard University, graduating magna cum laude, in 1993; earned a medical degree from the Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University in 1997. He also studied business administration and management at the Wharton School in 2002; and completed an adult reconstructive surgery fellowship at Harvard Medical School — Massachusetts General Hospital in 2002-03.

Memorials at medical center

Cervone said Sultan had practiced at Peconic Bay Medical Center for "at least 20 years." Cervone said the mood at the medical center was "somber" after Sultan's death. "Everybody's still trying to come to the realization that Dr. Sultan's not going to be there anymore," Cervone said. He said "memorials are starting to come up in the hospital in different places."

Dr. Michael Ciminiello, chairman of orthopedic surgery at Peconic Bay Medical Center, said he had worked with Sultan for 15 years. "He was a very caring, compassionate doctor that put his patients at the forefront of his life," Ciminiello said of Sultan. "He loved his family. He loved the hospital that we worked in. He loved the community. He loved to play the piano. He loved his children. He was taken from us too young."

Cervone said Sultan "had a great rapport with his patients" and his colleagues, adding he was a "good family man. He loved his kids."

Cervone said Sultan shared his musical talents as well. "We have a grand piano in the lobby [of the hospital]. He would often come down in between cases and entertain whoever was in the lobby," playing songs by the likes of Billy Joel and Elton John, for example. "He was talented in that respect. He was ... determined to be the best in whatever he did — whether it was flying model helicopters. He was really into that."

Sultan, Cervone said, "cared about everybody. He cared about the community."

In addition to his sisters, parents and children, survivors include another sister, Lorna Kapusta, of Brookline, Massachusetts, and several nieces and nephews.

A prayer service for Sultan is scheduled for Thursday from 11 a.m. to noon at Tuthill-Mangano Funeral Home in Riverhead.

By Olivia Winslow

olivia.winslow@newsday.com@newsollie