A retired musician, who was "fighting" the coronavirus at an Intensive Care Unit in Utah, USA, decided to mobilize his great love - music - to deal with his illness but also to give some moments of joy to nurses and patients. .
Despite being on a respirator, Grover Gilhelmsen wanted to show his gratitude to the nursing staff at McKay Dee Hospital in Ogden.
The 70-year-old patient managed to communicate his wish to a nurse, writing her a short note.
"About the middle of my shift, he wrote to me: 'You know, I really want to play here in the hospital. "What would you say if my wife brought me my violin and viola?" Said Kiara Sache, a hospital nurse.
And although the nurse had to first get the approval of the doctors, she finally managed to satisfy his wish.
He even stayed by his side while playing religious hymns and "Tennessee Waltz" in the ward, according to the hospital's press release.
"I snorted. "It was unbelievable for us staff to see a patient do something like this while he was intubated," said Sase, adding:
"Even though he was so sick, he did it. We could see how important it was for him σε He calmed down and came back to reality when he was playing ".
The staff of the hospital's Intensive Care Unit gathered in Gilhelmsen's room to listen to this peculiar… concert.
"It was really shocking to be there when he picked up the violin," said Matt Harper, a member of the nursing staff.
"I thought I was living a dream," he said.
And he explained:
"I'm used to patients being sad or having to take sedatives while they are intubated. But this memory will be one of the best I have from the Intensive Care Unit. "It was a small light in the darkness of Covid."
The hospital allowed Gilhelmsen to play several times, but later his condition worsened and he had to go into an artificial coma.
Diana Gilhelmsen, the patient's 47-year-old wife, told CNNi on Wednesday that she was not surprised by Grover's request.
"This is Grover. "She wanted to play to please them," she said.
The couple from Harrisville contracted the coronavirus in early October but Diana showed no serious symptoms.
Gilhelmsen spent a month in the hospital and was then taken to a specialist rehabilitation center.
Although it has not yet been piped, experts are optimistic.
Diana could not visit her husband while he was in the hospital, but now she can at least see him through a special window and talk to him on the phone.
"He can not speak, but he writes to me on a piece of paper," she said, expressing hope that he would have returned home at Christmas.
Source: CNN