Go to Nakamura / Getty Images | Photo Credit: Getty Images
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread fear and anxiety among people, heartbreaking stories and photos of patients are shared on social media every day.
The heartbreaking accounts and photos of patients from around the world are perhaps the most grim examples of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
There are images of patients watching the sunset from a wheelchair, an elderly couple saying goodbye in hospital beds. There are also some poignant ones that demonstrate the power of love in times of crisis.
In July, a photo showed a young Palestinian named Jihad Al-Suwaiti making an impromptu visit to his mother through a hospital window. Her mother was on her deathbed due to COVID-19. Despite various restrictions, Al-Suwaiti climbed up the wall and sat at the window, keeping watch before she left for the heavenly abode.
A new photo from Houston, Texas has captured another heartbreaking moment that highlights the plight of elderly COVID-19 patients around the world.
The image captures a tender moment between an ICU doctor and a COVID-19 patient who missed his wife during their hospital stay.
Joseph Varon, a doctor treating coronavirus patients at a Texas hospital, saw the distraught man in the COVID-19 intensive care room and decided to comfort him.
Shocked by the vulnerability of the patient, Dr. Varon decided to hug him. The moment was captured by a Getty Images photographer on Thanksgiving. Now it has gone hugely viral.
In an interview with CNN, Dr. Varon said he saw the elderly patient get out of his bed and try to leave the room.
“And he’s crying. So I go up to him and (ask him), ‘Why are you crying?'” Varon said.
“And the man says, ‘I want to be with my wife.’ So I just grab it and hold it. I felt very sorry for him. I felt very sad, just like him, “he added.
Dr. Varon added that the man finally felt better and stopped crying.
This happened when Dr. Varon was working at the hospital for the 256th consecutive day.
