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儿子冯世满在家中合影

八旬老夫妻同患新冠肺炎。病床前，爹爹打着点滴喂老伴吃饭。这一幕，曾被网友称为“爱情最美模样”。

2月27日，从武汉市汉口医院传来好消息，经过医护人员的精心治疗，这对老夫妻双双治愈出院。了解得知，婆婆其实患有老年痴呆，早已不记得爹爹是谁，但爹爹依然每天无微不至地照顾着她。

打着点滴哄老伴吃饭

疫情期间，一段抖音视频在网上走红，无数网友为之泪目，评价如潮。

一对八旬老夫妻同患新冠肺炎，住进了武汉市汉口医院，爹爹每天举着吊瓶来到老伴的病房，一口一口给老伴喂饭。同病房的病友拍下这一幕，将视频上传到网络后，让人见证了“‘新冠’时期的爱情”。

两位老人在医院期间，得到广东第二批援鄂医疗队和武汉市汉口医院的精心治疗和照顾。主治医生是中山大学第六附属医院的郅敏教授，她介绍说，2月4日，婆婆住进医院，第二天，爹爹也住了进来。婆婆病情重些，在监护室抢救了几天才慢慢平稳，转入普通病房。

两位老人不在同一间病房，爹爹每天都要去看望婆婆几次，有时还拎着吊瓶，给她喂饭，跟她说话。他时常晚上还爬起来看看婆婆，被子盖好了没有，睡得暖不暖和，有没有大小便失禁等。

“我们都被爹爹婆婆的爱情感动了，他们是我们全队的宝。”郅敏教授说。治疗22 天后，爹爹婆婆符合出院标准，于2月26日中午出院。

出院前，考虑到爹爹婆婆年龄大，婆婆又有多种慢性病，医护人员把他们自己的营养粉拿出来，送给爹爹婆婆服用补身体，还给了婆婆一台助步器，帮助她康复锻炼。

根据爹爹婆婆的特殊情况，医院评估其儿子有抗体可以照顾他们，在与指挥部沟通上报后，指挥部派车将老人送回居家隔离，期间未与外界接触，所在社区专门安排人员服务。

爹爹年轻时很听婆婆的话

这对老夫妻家住江岸区黑泥湖社区。爹爹冯保会已年满88 岁，婆婆李邵华84 岁。现在，两位老人的身体已经恢复得不错。冯爹爹告诉我们，7年前，老伴就得了老年痴呆，生活渐渐不能自理。她还常常独自跑出去，家人不知道找过多少次。2018年以来，李婆婆的病情加重，不会说话，饿了也不知道吃饭，甚至，连朝夕相处的丈夫也不认得了。

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爹爹婆婆出院前跟医务人员合影

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，都是父子俩一起照顾李婆婆的生活起居。白天，儿子冯世满带着母亲出去买菜，在小区转悠一圈，散散心，回来做好饭菜，再喂母亲吃。晚上，都是冯爹爹照顾，老伴睡觉喜欢枕高枕头，他就把枕头垫高些。老伴夜里会大小便失禁，爹爹一夜几次给婆婆换洗脏衣裤、擦干净身子，还要问问老伴渴不渴、饿不饿。

冯世满说，父母结婚快70年了，十分恩爱，印象中，两人从未吵过嘴。父亲能吃苦，母亲很干练，年轻时，都是父亲听母亲的。退休前，他们都是普通工人，一辈子勤俭节约，养育5 个子女，退休后，母亲还在街头卖了几年的栀子花，贴补家用。

“照顾她，是我应该做的”

这次疫情来袭，最先病倒的是儿子冯世满。他先感染，但很快治愈。后来，李婆婆也发作了，体温达到38.8℃，孙子开车把奶奶送去医院。第二天，冯爹爹也开始发烧。两人都住进武汉市汉口医院。冯爹爹每次领到饭菜后，总是先去喂老伴，老伴吃饭太慢，等吃完，他自己的饭已经凉了。后来，冯爹爹就用筷子的一头夹菜喂婆婆，把好菜喂给婆婆，自己用另一头，吃得简单些，吃完一盒吃第二盒，就这样，吃一顿饭要1 个小时。

“老伴没有牙，喜欢吃青菜、咸一点的，饭里要有菜汤。不喜欢吃硬的、辣的，鱼肉有刺也不行……”对于老伴的饮食习惯，冯爹爹记在心里。他说，喂饭时，要跟老伴说说以前的事，问她叫什么名字，住在哪儿。老伴听到后，很高兴，就能多吃几口饭。

父亲给母亲喂饭，这样的场景，冯世满再熟悉不过。但在网上看到这一幕后，冯世满还是大哭。他没想到，这种时候，父亲依然能够像平时一样，去照顾母亲。

“照顾她，是我应该做的。”冯爹爹说，老伴年轻时很能干，不怕苦不怕累，对这个家贡献太大，非常不容易。