MY SON’S LETTER TOOK STRESS AWAY
British Pakistani Dr Rahila Bhatti, a 43-yearold endocrinologist at the Mediclinic Parkview
Hospital, has been serving as the Covid-19 ward in-charge doctor for the past few weeks.
Being in her protective gear most of the time does not deter the mother of three from fasting. “I chose to fast because it gives me the strength to handle the stress — emotional, mental and physical — of dealing with Covid-19 positive cases. In fact, sometimes I get inspiration from my Covidpositive patients, who are sick and exempted from fasting, yet choose to fast because it helps them cope with the disease,”
Bhatti said.
“The hardest part is to stay away from my family – comprising husband and three kids in the age group six to 12 — for long hours. My kids are asleep when I leave. I only see them in the evening briefly before they go to bed. I am scared and always praying that I never bring any infection home. I even avoid hugging and kissing them.”
Bhatti gets back home by Iftar and immediately after takes a shower before rushing to prepare meals. “Although I have domestic help, I like to prepare meals with my children helping in the kitchen.
“One day I broke down after I got home from work. My son, Anas, who noticed this gave me a letter the next day titled ‘ I love you mom’. His letter took all my stress and pain away and taught me to stay strong and be resilient.
“In his letter, he wrote, ‘You are the best mom anyone could ever have .. I am so sorry that we annoy you when you come back home. This card is to show my love for you…You cook food for me.. you work hard in this time and may Allah bless you so much this Ramadan.. Whenever I wake up in the morning and you are already gone, I wish I had woken up before. Even though I know you are going to fight against coronavirus, I wish that virus never came. But we all know that Allah sent it for a reason. I hope you get so much reward for helping people. I would love to give you as much support as I can. When you feel sad, I am also sad, so let us try not to get you sad.”