My mother has always been in the medical field. She always knows what to do in exceptional cases. As my mother began working as a Respiratory therapist at Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem, I became more curious about the cases she experienced in the hospital. My initial memory of her work was when I would say goodnight to my mother and see her getting ready for her hospital shift, but when I woke up and drank the morning coffee she would walk through the front door in her hospital uniform after working through the night. It is now, During this time which has brought the Covid19 epidemic into the world and has wrecked havoc on human health and the economy, here I see my Mother with new and mature eyes, and how she works on such days.
Although in the beginning when the plague first arrived in the country, there was a lot of awareness about the virus at the hospital. nobody really knew what to expect and what was to come. As the virus began to spread more and more, so did I see my mother working more and being less at home. As a photographer dedicated to recording history in the making, I asked to accompany her in her work and document her life during the emergency that we are in today.
While wandering around the hospital and in the Covid19 department, I discovered a new face to my Mother and her co-workers, different from the one I had known previously. I saw in them the amount of stress and madness that they underwent during the shifts. The experiences and extreme dimension of the emergency not being able to breathe properly because it's extremely hot and you're breathing into your uniform because your whole body is blocked.
There are also the other employees, some of whom are behind the screen and providing support for the Covid19 insulator control
My viewing from the side gave me a new perspective and outlook. Today we are all locked inside the houses and are unable to see the world from the outside. This project gave me the opportunity to really look and see things differently. It makes me realize and appreciate the amazing medical teams we have that give us the ability to know we have in who to trust. But most importantly, for us to trust, we have to obey the one big request that the medical team asks and that is to stay home to allow this epidemic to pass and give us another chance to go out and do new things.
The respiratory therapy team continues to respond to Covid19 patients as well as other patients who have difficulty breathing. After wandering around with the medical staff at the hospital, I talked to some of them, and it was asked when would this situation all be over? This is an unknown period but the staff will remain here.
The experience of wandering around the hospital and looking and dealing from the side, presented to me the understanding of the true struggle of the medical team against the virus. How much pride there is in such amazing medical teams, how much confidence there is in knowing that we have whom to trust.
Credits:
Tal Heres