A few days ago while apocalypse-channel-surfing, I happened to come across a short interview with a doctor on TV. He is a surgeon, Elvis Francois..
He became notable for treating COVID-19 patients, and singing LEAN ON ME in an inspiring rendition.. The video was uploaded in October 2018, but it became widely-viewed as the coronavirus pandemic took hold of the globe..
The song and its version seemed to capture a moment–medical staff from around the world used it as their ballad during one of the most trying times of our lives.. of our generation.. of our planet’s human history.
We are watching societal and economic changes happen in real time, just as medical disasters unfold in big and small hospitals throughout the planet..
Sometimes in our lives
We all have pain
We all have sorrow..
Famous people began to become some of the numbers of active COVID-19 patients around the world.. PINK joined the ranks tonight with an announcement that she tested positive, and luckily now negative. Brooke Baldwin from CNN joined Chris Cuomo in being diagnosed..
Cases in the United States are now entering the hundreds of thousands range.. Deaths are entering the tens of thousands..
If we are wise..
We know that there’s always tomorrow..
As this post is written, just under 60,000 worldwide deaths have been recorded as the active case number soared past 1 million around the planet..
New York City saw more deaths from COVID-19 since the outbreak than from the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
We are being prepared by the President, his Administration, and Governors across America that April will be one of the worst months in the history of the United States…
And we hope it will just be April.
We are being advised to stay home.
Stay calm.
And stay safe..
And now today, the CDC is finally advising Americans to wear a mask when they leave their homes..
This warning in the UK may be coming to a phone near you soon in the United States?
Lean on me..
When you’re not strong..
Carry on..
Lean on me.. that song.. you can almost hear it being echoed through hallways of hospitals … you can hear it mixed with the emotional roller coaster of tears and madness that emergency rooms are filled with.. It’s a statement.. it’s a message..
So it’s strange to report that the writer of this song passed away today..
Legendary soul singer-songwriter Bill Withers died from heart complications this week.. When headlines first appeared, many jumped to a conclusion that the coronavirus took him. It did not not. But regardless of cause, the notion that he passed away at the same time his 1972 song is inspiring a profession is tragic and profound in a paranormal way.
There will undoubtedly be harrowing and horrid moments in the coming days and weeks.. Hospitals will be overrun. Bodies will pile up in makeshift morgues. We will see countless Tweets with tearful nurses and barely-coping doctors.. We are in an historic pandemic that will not discriminate on age, race, religion, color or creed.. And while certain demographics or predisposed individuals will be hit harder than others, sobering stories will emerge of healthy people who succumb to this tragedy.
