In the last year, we have seen many heartbreaking images from around the world. Those not just of suffering but also of isolation, given the nature of the viral we are battling.
The coronavirus spreads fast, so it becomes imperative to distance patients from their loved ones. In many cases, depriving them of any contact with their families in their last moments.
Which is unimaginably heartbreaking. However, it is in times like these that some people remind us what it means to be human.
Like nurse Semei Araújo Cunha from the São Carlos hospital in São Paulo, Brazil.
One of her patients, who was intubated, had cold hands and it was becoming a problem. So, to solve the same, Cunha came up with a solution that didn’t just help the person medically but also emotionally.
‘The hand of God’ — nurses trying to comfort isolated patients in a Brazilian Covid isolation ward. Two disposable gloves tied, full of hot water, simulating impossible human contact. Salute to the front liners and a stark reminder of the grim situation our world is in! #MaskUp pic.twitter.com/HgVFwOtg2f
— Sadiq ‘Sameer’ Bhat (@sadiquiz) April 8, 2021
She filled two gloves with warm water and tied them around the patient’s hand. This didn’t just increase the blood flow, but also gave them a feeling that someone was holding their hand. Or at least that’s the hope.
A report from Indian Express quoted the nurse as saying:
I made this glove with hot water to improve my patient’s perfusion and see saturation better, and I hope she feels that someone is holding her hand
Thats why they called GOD https://t.co/dKKyojzebH
— Manoj Sharma (@Manoj911) April 10, 2021
Now people have been sharing this image on social media, reminding each other of the unbearable loneliness in death that the virus leads to.
This one will stay with me forever, for it above else shows how much we need the one thing we’ve been deprived of for the last year – human touch. https://t.co/MEgHy4XVYm
— Jeta Andreassen (@JetaAndreassen) April 11, 2021
The “hand of God” – Please #WearAMask https://t.co/sniyA7WaSl
— BitchyEyebrow (@BitchyEyebrow) April 10, 2021
Omg, this is so sad.😔 Please get your vaccines, friends. https://t.co/9C8ynzrIXu
— Pepper (@PepperBuckley) April 9, 2021
If this doesn’t break the heart a little… https://t.co/pt2SDupqAM
— Minda Zwerin – No one is free until we all are (@MindaMZ) April 9, 2021
Heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. https://t.co/EaqBiNSj96
— SDS (@SDSdollop) April 9, 2021
What a beautiful gesture- touch is so vital to the human condition. https://t.co/OuVoKF1HQJ
— Tricia Sutton (@sutton0206) April 9, 2021
God this is devastating https://t.co/lSJvQA6THH
— Dana Smith (@SmithDanaG) April 9, 2021
Always find ways to be more human in our *care* – perhaps the most important lesson I have learned from my nurse colleagues during my clinical training https://t.co/qEy3ky7pQi
— Abraar Karan (@AbraarKaran) April 9, 2021
Let this photo serve as a reminder that we have to be kinder to each other, and also that we have to be careful – for our sake and that of our family members. No one should have to see this day.