If you think it’s difficult to survive this lockdown, you don’t really know what our front-line fighters – doctors, nurses, police and other civic workers – are going through.
Sleepless nights, tiring days and to top that, hatred and discrimination by society. This is their life in a nutshell.
A nurse at Seven Hills Hospital in Mumbai talked to Humans of Bombay about her life these days and her story will only fill you with immense respect for her and thousand others like her.
The first day when she got to know that she has been put on duty in the COVID-19 ward, she thought about her children and sent them to live with her sister. What else would a mother have done?
The fear of infecting their families made her and other nurses stay in the hospital for days, totally unaware of how their families are managing the tough times.
When I said ‘bye’ to my husband as I left for hospital, I didn’t realise that it would be days until I saw him. Apart from being scared of infecting our families, us nurses realised there were so many patients, that it was best to stay at the hospital– it’s been 10 days since I last saw my husband.
Dealing with so many patients who are not only suffering from a deadly disease but also worried and anxious isn’t easy. At times you have to face their wrath, but there are some who listen to them and respect them for their services.
Stating a few instances, she said:
Just the other day, a patient who’s the head chef at a restaurant threw the food we served him & started screaming– ‘your cook doesn’t know how to cook, what have you served me? This is terrible!’ I didn’t know what to say–I know they’re not 5 star meals, but we’re doing our best.
But instances like these do not affect their firm determination to serve others, especially in this time of crisis. They cry, laugh and support each other in these tough times.
Talking about the discriminatory behaviour meted out to healthcare professionals across the country, she said:
A colleague of mine wasn’t allowed to enter his society, because they feared he was infected– we all felt terrible; it felt like a thankless job at the time.
Despite everything, the hope of meeting her family once all this ends, is enough to keep her going.
Honestly, I just want to hug my children tight – I’ve only seen them sporadically on video call & I know they’re worried. But the only way I can do that is if you continue to stay at home– please… just stay at home.
We hope she and all others working day in and day out for us, come out strong and get to meet their families soon.
You can read the complete story here.