Love in COVID-19 Wards

By Liu Shan & Zheng Jingjing Photos by Zhang Lin & Li Junping

Amid the outbreak of COVID-19, a video released on Douyin triggered a flood of comments and the tears of the netizens.

An eighty-year-old couple were both diagnosed with COVID-19. The scene of the old man feeding his wife at her sickbed was described as the most beautiful face of love by netizens.

On February 27, word came from Hankou Hospital of Wuhan that the old couple was discharged from the hospital with considerate treatment from the medical staff. We are then told that the old lady is stricken with dementia for years and she is not able to recognize her husband, whereas her husband still cares for her day by day.

Grandpa Feng coaxes his wife into eating while on a drip

Amid the outbreak of COVID-19, a video released on Douyin triggered a flood of comments and the tears of the netizens. An eighty-year-old couple were both diagnosed with COVID-19 and hospitalized in Hankou Hospital. The old man fed his wife while on a drip. Another patient in the ward recorded the scene and posted it online, attracting netizens to witness this true love amid the outbreak of COVID-19.

When the old couple was hospitalized, they received considerate treatment from the medical staff of the second batch of Guangdong Medical Team and Hankou Hospital. As mentioned by their doctor, Professor Zhi Min from The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, the old lady was hospitalized on February 4 and her husband the following day. The old lady was in worse condition than her husband and she was treated in ICU for days before being transferred to an ordinary ward.

The couple stayed in different wards and thereby the old man went to visit his wife several times a day, feeding her and talking to her even when he was on a drip. He visited his wife on a frequent basis at night to check whether she was tucked in, whether the quilt was comfortable, or whether she had incontinence.

As quoted from Professor. Zhi Min, “We were all touched by the love between the old couple and we treated them as our treasure.” After being treated for 22 days, the old couple met the criteria for patient discharge and were discharged on February 26.

The 80-year-old couple and their son Feng Shiman at home 八旬老夫妻治愈出院后和兒子馮世滿在家中合影

八旬老夫妻同患新冠肺炎。病床前，爹爹打著點滴喂老伴吃飯。這一幕，曾被網友稱為“愛情最美模樣”。

2月27日，從武漢市漢口醫院傳來好消息，經過醫護人員的精心治療，這對老夫妻雙雙治愈出院。了解得知，婆婆其實患有老年癡呆，早已不記得爹爹是誰，但爹爹依然每天無微不至地照顧著她。

打著點滴哄老伴吃飯

疫情期間，一段抖音視頻在網上走紅，無數網友為之淚目，評價如潮。

一對八旬老夫妻同患新冠肺炎，住進了武漢市漢口醫院，爹爹每天舉著吊瓶來到老伴的病房，一口一口給老伴喂飯。同病房的病友拍下這一幕，將視頻上傳到網絡后，讓人見證了“‘新冠’時期的愛情”。

兩位老人在醫院期間，得到廣東第二批援鄂醫療隊和武漢市漢口醫院的精心治療和照顧。主治醫生是中山大學第六附屬醫院的郅敏教授，她介紹說，2月4日，婆婆住進醫院，第二天，爹爹也住了進來。婆婆病情重些，在監護室搶救了幾天才慢慢平穩，轉入普通病房。

兩位老人不在同一間病房，爹爹每天都要去看望婆婆幾次，有時還拎著吊瓶，給她喂飯，跟她說話。他時常晚上還爬起來看看婆婆，被子蓋好了沒有，睡得暖不暖和，有沒有大小便失禁等。

“我們都被爹爹婆婆的愛情感動了，他們是我們全隊的寶。”郅敏教授說。治療22 天后，爹爹婆婆符合出院標準，于2月26日中午出院。

出院前，考慮到爹爹婆婆年齡大，婆婆又有多種慢性病，醫護人員把他們自己的營養粉拿出來，送給爹爹婆婆服用補身體，還給了婆婆一臺助步器，幫助她康復鍛煉。

根據爹爹婆婆的特殊情況，醫院評估其兒子有抗體可以照顧他們，在與指揮部溝通上報后，指揮部派車將老人送回居家隔離，期間未與外界接觸，所在社區專門安排人員服務。

爹爹年輕時很聽婆婆的話

這對老夫妻家住江岸區黑泥湖社區。爹爹馮保會已年滿88 歲，婆婆李邵華84 歲。現在，兩位老人的身體已經恢復得不錯。馮爹爹告訴我們，7年前，老伴就得了老年癡呆，生活漸漸不能自理。她還常常獨自跑出去，家人不知道找過多少次。2018年以來，李婆婆的病情加重，不會說話，餓了也不知道吃飯，甚至，連朝夕相處的丈夫也不認得了。

When the couple were still hospitalized, given that they were old and the lady suffered from several chronic diseases, the medical staff gave their own nutrition powder to the couple and provided the lady with a walking aid to help her recover.

Considering the special condition of the old couple, Hubei Headquarters for COVID-19 Prevention and Control arranged for a car to send them back home for quarantine with their son taking care of them, as the hospital evaluated that their son had the antibody of COVID-19. Amid their quarantine, they didn’t have contact with the outside and their community assigned specific personnel for assistance.

The old couple developed deep affection for each other

Living in Heini Lake Community of Hankou, Grandpa Feng Baohui was 88 and Grandma Li Shaohua 84. At present, the old couple recovered markedly.

Grandpa Feng told us that his wife had been diagnosed with dementia 7 years ago. Since then, she couldn’t take care of herself. Sometimes she went outside all alone but couldn’t find her way back, her family had to go and look for her. Since 2018, Grandma Li’s condition has deteriorated so much that she couldn’t talk or remember to eat. Even worse, she couldn’t recognize her husband who spent decades with her.

Normally, Grandpa Feng and his son took care of Grandma Li’s daily life. In the daytime, Feng Shiman took his mother to the grocery and accompanied her on a stroll in the neighborhood.

“It’s my job to take care of her. My wife was very capable and conscientious when she was young and she was devoted tremendously to our family. She is great!”

Afterwards, he would feed his mother after he had cooked lunch. At night, Grandpa Feng would take charge of looking after Grandma Li. As Grandma Li was fond of sleeping on high pillows, he would raise her pillow to a comfortable height. As Grandma Li had incontinence, Grandpa Feng would get up to change her dirty pants, clean her body, and ask whether Grandma Li wanted anything to eat or drink on a frequent basis.

As Feng Shiman explained, “My parents have been married for nearly 70 years and were deeply dependent on each other.” As far as he could remember, his parents have never had a fight. His father is hardy and his mother capable. His father was devoted to his mother in their youth. They were both workers and led a frugal life but took good care of their five sons and daughters. After retirement, his mother sold flowers on the streets to increase their family income.

“It’s my job to take care of her”

Their son Feng Shiman was the first in the family to get infected with COVID-19, but he recovered shortly. Afterwards, Grandma Li developed a fever of 38.8 degrees Celsius.

Their grandson drove her to the hospital. The following day, Grandpa Feng had a fever, too. The old couple were both hospitalized in Hankou Hospital. When Grandpa Feng received the meal, he would feed his wife first. As Grandma Li ate at a slow pace, when she finished her meal, Grandpa Feng’s meal was icecold. Later, Grandpa Feng would feed nutritious dishes to Grandma Li with one end of the chopsticks whereas he had the rest with the other end. It would take an hour for them to finish a meal.

The couple and the medical staff who take care of them before they are discharged from the hospital爹爹婆婆出院前跟醫務人員合影

As Grandpa Feng said, “My wife doesn’t have teeth and tends to have vegetables, salty meals, and rice with soup. She doesn’t like hard, spicy meals. Nor can you serve her fish with bones.” Grandpa Feng kept his wife’s eating habits in mind. As mentioned by Grandpa Feng, he would talk about the bygones and ask for her name and residence when feeding her. Grandma Li would be delighted to hear this kind of stuff and would eat more as a result.

Feng Shiman was familiar with the scene of his father feeding his mother and said he still cried his eyes out when watching the video online. It didn’t occur to him that his father would treat his mother as usual amid the trying times.

“It’s my job to take care of her,” Grandpa Feng concluded. “My wife was very capable and conscientious when she was young and she was devoted tremendously to our family. She is great!”

(Translation: Wang Shengxia)

往日里，都是父子倆一起照顧李婆婆的生活起居。白天，兒子馮世滿帶著母親出去買菜，在小區轉悠一圈，散散心，回來做好飯菜，再喂母親吃。晚上，都是馮爹爹照顧，老伴睡覺喜歡枕高枕頭，他就把枕頭墊高些。老伴夜里會大小便失禁，爹爹一夜幾次給婆婆換洗臟衣褲、擦干凈身子，還要問問老伴渴不渴、餓不餓。

馮世滿說，父母結婚快70年了，十分恩愛，印象中，兩人從未吵過嘴。父親能吃苦，母親很干練，年輕時，都是父親聽母親的。退休前，他們都是普通工人，一輩子勤儉節約，養育5 個子女，退休后，母親還在街頭賣了幾年的梔子花，貼補家用。

“照顧她，是我應該做的”

這次疫情來襲，最先病倒的是兒子馮世滿。他先感染，但很快治愈。后來，李婆婆也發作了，體溫達到38.8℃，孫子開車把奶奶送去醫院。第二天，馮爹爹也開始發燒。兩人都住進武漢市漢口醫院。馮爹爹每次領到飯菜后，總是先去喂老伴，老伴吃飯太慢，等吃完，他自己的飯已經涼了。后來，馮爹爹就用筷子的一頭夾菜喂婆婆，把好菜喂給婆婆，自己用另一頭，吃得簡單些，吃完一盒吃第二盒，就這樣，吃一頓飯要1 個小時。

“老伴沒有牙，喜歡吃青菜、咸一點的，飯里要有菜湯。不喜歡吃硬的、辣的，魚肉有刺也不行……”對于老伴的飲食習慣，馮爹爹記在心里。他說，喂飯時，要跟老伴說說以前的事，問她叫什么名字，住在哪兒。老伴聽到后，很高興，就能多吃幾口飯。

父親給母親喂飯，這樣的場景，馮世滿再熟悉不過。但在網上看到這一幕后，馮世滿還是大哭。他沒想到，這種時候，父親依然能夠像平時一樣，去照顧母親。

“照顧她，是我應該做的。”馮爹爹說，老伴年輕時很能干，不怕苦不怕累，對這個家貢獻太大，非常不容易。