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

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

More than70,000 viewers have signed a Change.org petition to have writers ofABC's medical drama bring backPatrick Dempsey'sbeloved character who was killed off in a stunning episode last Thursday night.

"You cannot have people invest adecadeinto a character and then you just terminate them like that!" writes petition creatorCourtney Williams in an open letter to Grey's Anatomy showrunner and writerShonda Rhimes.

"Why would you do us like this? Dedicated and die-hard fans! WeDO NOTdeserve this!"

Williams's comments echo the feelings ofthousands of fans who turned to ABC's officialGrey's Anatomy Facebookpage to express their rage afterShepard died after beingblindsided by a truck.

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

Thepoeticirony surrounding his deathseems 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 notDO 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 makingthe 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 the49-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 wererumours that Dempsey, who had recently taken a six month hiatus from theshow, was written offover friction with Rhimes,butDempseysaid he was leaving the show in a good place with his fellow actors.

When asked specifically if that wasalso true withRhimes, Dempseysimply said "Yes."