With the global pandemic of COVID-19 and its causal virus SARS-CoV-2 still going strong, we’re all very focused on our own families and the effects of the crisis on our immediate locale.
But it’s important to remember that this is a global crisis and that even if things might be improving where you are, many places are still in the worst of it.
Information about the coronavirus pandemic is rapidly changing and Diply is committed to providing the most recent data as it becomes available. Some of the information in this story may have changed since publication, and we encourage readers to use online resources from CDC and WHO to stay up to date on the latest information surrounding COVID-19.
Families around the world are dealing with loved ones who are seriously ill or dying from COVID-19.
One of the most common health and safety measures against the spread is to keep anyone who is not sick or an essential worker out of the hospital.
While it’s easy to appreciate why this is done, it’s still difficult for families to deal with.
After all, this means that those who die of the disease also die alone or with only a nurse for company.
It’s through sharing stories of loss and love that we can really understand the true cost of the crisis.
Millions of cases is a statistic, but with numbers that large, it’s hard to really imagine the human cost.
Every one of those cases is an individual person.
They may be lucky and asymptomatic, or they may be fighting for their life without their family at their side.
However, 73-year-old Palestinian Rasmi Suwaiti’s son wasn’t going to let her be alone .
Even though he couldn’t be in the room, her son, Jihad Al-Suwaiti, climbed the hospital wall to sit by her window.
There he sat for most of the five days his mother was in critical care before she passed away from the disease.
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It’s not certain where she caught the virus, since she had been careful to avoid public places and risky situations.
Rasmi Suwaiti was already fighting leukemia, so her immune system wasn’t strong enough to battle a second enemy.
Jihad’s story was shared on Twitter by Mohamad Safa, a representative for the United Nations and human rights advocate.
His tweet, which also included a beautiful illustration, took the story viral. Jihad told the local media that he wished he had taken the virus more seriously before his mother had become ill.
He has since written a letter to his country’s government.
In so doing, he is using his mother’s story to push for more medical supplies to be provided and for a stronger awareness campaign to impress upon people the importance of health and safety measures.
h/t: Arabic Post
