Let’s start this post with a SAD story from Lebanon ☹ and end it with a happier one from Québec.
Both stories are very inspiring. Both stories are about serving patients and one’s society.
Serving in one way or another… Devoting one’s career, or just vacation, to care for patients and to help them heal.
It is heart-breaking to read about this young Lebanese physician, Dr. Louay Ismail (32 years-old only…), who died of the complications of covid-19 (severe pneumonia). Bambi read this story first on Naharnet and, of course, she consulted her favourite journalist’s Twitter account, Ms. Roula Douglas (OK, as you may know by now, in addition to being a great journalist, she is Bambi’s sister).
Ms. Douglas shared tribute of Dr. Louay Ismail by his colleagues. Thanks to him for his devotion to patient care throughout his young career, in his country’s tough conditions, and literally until his last breath. A very compassionate physician and kind colleague, it seems. May he rest in peace. May his family learn to find peace in their grief journey.
Following the Naharnet’s screenshot of Dr. Ismail’s picture and a short article below, Bambi will share a quick translation of an article published in the Journal de Montréal by Ms. Frédérique Giguère and entitled “A chief of police with patients suffering from covid-19”:
How sad that your family and Lebanon lost you too soon…
As per the Journal de Montréal, “Francis Lanouette believes that his visit to the elderly suffering from covid-19 is one of the best experiences of his career.”
“A Laurentian police chief who used his own vacation days to help seniors with Covid-19 will remember his experience all his life, where he encountered suffering and illness, but above all, recognition.
“One day, a 93-year-old lady whom I saw regularly asked me to come and make her rosary with her,” says Francis Lanouette, who has been managing the Intermunicipal Police Board Thérèse-De Blainville (RIPTDB) since 2015. She is very religious, so it was really an intense and important moment and it did him a lot of good. I was really challenged and I felt fortunate to be able to give back like that. “
Personal initiative
As soon as he felt his team was ready to take on covid-19, the 48-year-old father answered the Prime Minister [or Premier] François Legault’s call by applying to become a service aide for the elderly.
He was therefore assigned at the beginning of June to the Days Inn hotel in Blainville, which had been transformed into a shelter for seniors suffering from covid-19 in order to avoid too great a spread in their CHSLD [residential and long-term care centre].
“It was important to me that it remains a personal initiative, so I took a month of my vacation to go,” humbly describes the one who even paid all his salary to the Red Cross and Moisson Laurentides.
Mental Health
It was with a heart swelling with gratitude and overflowing with admiration for the health workers that Francis Lanouette ended his assignment at the beginning of July to resume his duties as Chief of Police.
Although he had worked with people with mental health problems in the past as a police officer, he found himself at times completely deprived of resources.
“I have seen the expertise of patient attendants and nurses put to the test,” he says. I saw them grasp the needs of patients so quickly, I was truly impressed with their dedication. “
Francis Lanouette’s citizens’ initiative is also perfectly anchored in the community shift he has advocated since taking office at the RIPTDB [his police station].
“I didn’t do it for others, but it is certain that if it inspires people here, it’s good! “
The experience even took on a family resemblance with the Lanouettes, since the chief of police’s son, a nursing student, also contributed.
“We talked to each other and I asked him if he would be willing to do it if I did it too, and that’s how it all started,” he recalls. My 18-year-old son went to help near Laval.”
Preventive routine
In order to reassure and protect the rest of his family, the chief and his son followed a preventive routine when arriving from work.
“We changed for the first time when we left and we put our clothes of the day in drain bags. Once at home, we took off our clothes once more in the garage and put everything in the washer. Finally, we showered before going to see others.”
None of this has cooled the fervor of Francis Lanouette, who has already informed the public health of his region that he would be delighted to put on his visor and his jacket again if a second wave struck”.
