National Post (National Edition)
TORONTO DOCTOR PLEADS FOR PUBLIC SENSIBILITY
EXPERIENCED FIRSTHAND ‘A GREAT LOSS’ FROM THE RISING PANDEMIC
A Toronto doctor is pleading with the public to heed the information regarding COVID-19 seriously, after his father-in-law became one of the first people to die from the virus in Ontario. In a Facebook post on Sunday, Rick
Mann described what it was like for him and his wife to watch his 77-yearold healthy father-in-law go from spending his days working at a grocery store and aiding other seniors, to lying in an intensive care unit, attached to a ventilator, within the span of a week. Here’s his story.
Dear Friends,
Yesterday my father-inlaw passed away. He had COVID-19. He is one of the first people (maybe the third?) to pass away from this disease in Ontario.
Up until just over a week ago, he was healthy. Despite his age of 77, he had no other health conditions. Still drove. Still dropped off food for seniors and took them to their shared place of worship every week. He was even still working at the same grocery in Little India that he’s been operating for almost 40 years, since he first came to Canada as a refugee from Uganda in the 1970s.
But he died in the ICU at our hospital despite the amazing care he received from the exceptional nurses and doctors who looked after him. Despite being on a ventilator. COVID-19 took just seven days to take him away.
My wife and I are frontline health-care workers, which makes this time especially challenging. The night he was admitted, I had spent the day in meetings at our hospital to create a triage zone for COVID-19 patients. I spent the next three nights working overnight in the emergency department, screening dozens of patients for COVID while also providing care to our usual sick and wounded, meticulously applying and removing protective equipment again and again to help prevent the spread of infection.
We applied that same protection when we went to see my father-in-law, too. Every time. No touching, no sitting in the room to comfort him, no long visits to talk and reminisce. The risk of infecting ourselves, our families and our patients was too high.
Shortly after my last overnight shift, he got worse. We drove back to the hospital to talk about his wishes for end-of-life care, and he was moved to the ICU. The next day he was placed on a ventilator because it was becoming impossible for him to breathe on his own. Yesterday he expired.
Seven days.
He leaves behind a long legacy of love, faith, and selflessness. This post is not an attempt to summarize any of the rich details that define his time on this earth.
But part of me wants the legacy of how he died to be to help inform and educate others as to the real-life risk and the real-life toll that COVID-19 has on our friends, our families, and our communities at large.
Please, take all this information that you are receiving regarding COVID-19 seriously. I plead this with you not only as a front line emergency worker, but as a family member who has experienced first-hand a great loss from COVID-19.
❚ Practise social distancing.
❚ Wash your hands, and don’t touch your face.
❚ Help advocate for adequate supplies and protective equipment for healthcare workers.
❚ Speak with your loved ones regarding their wishes for end-of-life care, now, while they are healthy and well enough to make informed and rational decisions.
And remember that the story of my father-in-law’s passing will not be unique. Yes, he was elderly. But already in my hospital and across the GTA we are seeing critically ill patients across many decades of life. And some of them are younger than I am.
Thanks for reading. We appreciate your support, both as professionals and as a family.
Feel free to share with those you care about.
— Love, R