A Nurse hugs a COVID Patient with Down Syndrome who needed Oxygen

The COVID-19 pandemic brings us constant painful images: full hospitals, people crying for their loved ones. Perhaps this is why stories full of empathy and solidarity are becoming more viral than ever. We need to continue to see the positive side of people to give us hope. This is how the photography of a doctor hugging a COVID patient to reassure him.

Émerson Junior, he is a 30-year-old with Down syndrome who had to enter the Caapiranga Brazilian Hospital because of coronavirus. His lungs were collapsed from the infection and he was suffocating when he arrived at the clinic, so he needed oxygen to get by. However, he was not aware of what was happening and he did not let them put oxygen on him. In this tense moment, the nurse Raimundo Nogueira Matos, 38, did not think about it. He approached the young patient and hugged him to calm him, even knowing the danger of contagion that existed. “I know the risk I can take. But as he is a special patient, he needed a lot of affection“, he claimed. Finally, managed to put the respirator on him.

The photo was taken by machinery operator Mirene Borges Da Silva, 38, who was also hospitalized for COVID-19. “He was so weakened, suffering in that moment of agony. Due to lack of air, he needed the procedure. But he was in a tube and his nose hurt. So, the nurse hugged him and he was silent. I thought the scene was so beautiful, it was an angel who was at that time and that caused the agony to pass. It was a wonderful thing, and the photo reflects it,” a user wrote inTwitter. Later, the snapshot was made public thanks to the Facebook account of a nursing home that decided to tell the story. “Thanks to gestures like this we believe that everything will work out “, the post concluded.

A necessary exception

In an interview also for UOL, Nogeuira said that “as the patient do not understand the importance of treatment, in this case, we needed to offer him oxygen therapy with the mask, with that reservoir and he was very anxious. Then he hugged me and I managed to calm him down”. “We did the best we could there. It is now stable, within its limitations” she added.

The nurse also assured that he is always very careful to avoid catching coronavirus, but at that time he had to forget the risk to help the patient: “In eight months on the front line, I had never been in this situation. Nurses aim a lot at the biosecurity. For me, it is very important to wear PPE (personal protective equipment) correctly. I know the risk that I can take sometimes, but as he is a special patient, he needed a lot of affection”.