Artist’s lifelike portraits thrill front-line health care workers

‘It’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me,’ one says.

Medical workers around the world have posted photos on social media from the front lines: Mask marks etched onto their skin, dark circles under their eyes and pained expressions on their faces.

Steve Derrick, 54, who once worked as a professional artist, was moved by the images they were posting and decided to paint them and send the works to the subjects to let them know that others do notice and care.

Derrick’s first portrait was of an Italian health-care worker, whose goggles and mask had left prominent bruises on her face. Later, he started directly contacting medical workers he found on social media, asking whether he could paint their portraits and mail them the finished product, free of charge.

They enthusiastically accepted.

Derrick contacted Meredith Borzotta, 42, a nurse in Philadelphia who posted a photo on Instagram on a particularly troubling day when she listened to a daughter say goodbye to her mother over the phone.

“Listening to the love in the daughter’s voice was the most beautiful and heartbreaking experience. I could not hold back the tears,” she wrote in the post. “I silently promised that I would care for this woman as if she was my own mother. I am so sorry we can’t save everyone. I am so sorry for the families left behind in the wake of this.”

Borzotta said she was humbled when Derrick contacted her — and delighted when she finally received the painting, which she said was clearly made with immense care.

“He included every detail,” Borzotta said. “He even got the clip on my shirt.”

Eventually, the roles were reversed: Medical workers, their family members and even their patients began asking Derrick for portraits.

Rebekah Maciorowski, 26, became one of Derrick’s subjects, too.

The nurse from Denver tested positive for the novel coronavirus in early June after transferring to a New York hospital to work. When she received her portrait from Derrick, “there were tears,” she said. “It’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

CONTRIBUTED BY STEVE DERRICK Steve Derrick’s painting of Leah White, an ICU nurse of 13 years. She moved from Houston to New York to help during the peak of the pandemic.