YouTube | Montreal Gazette

Sikh Doctors Make 'Difficult Decision' To Shave Beards To Treat COVID-19 Patients

Updated August 28, 2021

The ongoing coronavirus outbreak has certainly tested people in ways they never thought possible. And for physician Sanjeet Singh-Saluja and his brother, Rajeet, the virus would not only test their devotion to their profession, but to their religion as well.

The two brothers from Canada were recently faced with an incredibly difficult decision when their moral duties as medical doctors inexplicably collided with their religious values as devout Sikhs.

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The Montreal medical workers have been battling COVID-19 ever since the outbreak began.

YouTube | Montreal Gazette

Because they work so closely with infected patients, both brothers are required to wear N95 masks while on the job. But there's just one problem: their beards have prevented them from properly donning the protective equipment.

While beard adaptive masks are available, border restrictions prevented them from getting the equipment immediately.

Wikimedia | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:3M_N95_Particulate_Respirator.JPG

In fact, despite having ordered the masks weeks ago, the brothers wouldn't actually receive them for another 10 weeks.

So they had to make a decision: keep their beards and be unable to safely treat patients, or shave their beards and turn their backs on their religion.

In Sikhism, one of the pillars known as "kesh" is the practice of "allowing one's hair to grow naturally out of respect for the perfection of God’s creation.”

Unsplash | Josh Sorenson

According to the Montreal Gazette, another pillar, "sewa", means selfless service, and is partly what inspired the two brothers to pursue careers in the medical field in the first place.

However, the issue with their N95 masks appeared to put these two pillars in stark opposition of each other.

Before deciding to buzz their beards, Singh-Saluja and his brother sought guidance from religious advisers, family, and friends.

Their religious leaders reminded the brothers of the two important pillars of Sikhism and discussed how they should approach their decision.

"In this case, the sewa, 'the service', actually outweighed the identity, the hair," Singh-Saluja explained in a YouTube video. "Many people would disagree, but that's how I interpreted it and that's how my religious leaders interpreted it."

In the end, both brothers ultimately decided they would shave their beards for the first time in their lives.

YouTube | Impact de Montréal

“It was an extremely difficult decision for us, but one that we felt was absolutely necessary in this time of need,” Singh-Saluja told the Gazette. “It’s a decision that has left me with much sadness. This was something that had been so much part of my identity."

"I look at myself in the mirror very differently now," he continued. "Every morning when I see myself, it’s a bit of a shock.”

Singh-Saluja said he's dealt with other outbreaks in his career, but none like the coronavirus.

"Because COVID-19 has become so rampant in our community, it just wasn’t feasible anymore [not to wear a N95 mask]," he explained. "There are so many people coming in. I felt I just couldn’t sit on the sidelines."

"This was an exception to the rule, so we had to do what we had to do to help out.”

h/t: Montreal Gazette

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