{"id":214186,"date":"2021-03-29T23:41:33","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T20:41:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/this-candid-photo-conveyed-the-pandemics-full-weight-of-human-suffering\/"},"modified":"2021-03-29T23:41:33","modified_gmt":"2021-03-29T20:41:33","slug":"this-candid-photo-conveyed-the-pandemics-full-weight-of-human-suffering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-candid-photo-conveyed-the-pandemics-full-weight-of-human-suffering\/","title":{"rendered":"#This candid photo conveyed the pandemic’s full weight of human suffering"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#This candid photo conveyed the pandemic’s full weight of human suffering<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n Dr. Simon Demers-Marcil explains why he was initially reluctant to have the viral photo go public\u2014and how it feels to tell families they’re losing a loved one\n <\/div>\n
\n He\u2019s wearing a mask, of course. His raised left arm obscures the rest of his face, his palm cupped around his forehead, while his right hand holds a landline telephone to his ear. He kneels, his Nike runners splayed on the floor behind him and his entire body slightly curved in on itself.<\/p>\n

Respirologist Dr. Simon-Marcil is a big bear of a guy, and when he speaks, it is slow and deliberate and gentle. He may be exactly who you would want to help if someone you loved was hanging by a thread. But in the phone call Demers-Marcil was making in that photo, it was too late for anyone to help. His body language\u2014simultaneously wrung-out exhausted and taut with tension\u2014betrays the toll too many medical professionals have borne over the last year, as they have called family after family to say that someone has succumbed to COVID-19 or is on the brink. After Alberta Health Services released the photo and described its circumstances in November, it rocketed around the internet as the pandemic\u2019s Alan Kurdi moment: a single image of one person crystallizing a full narrative of human suffering, as the photos of two-year-old Alan\u2019s lifeless body on a beach did with the Syrian refugee crisis.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/p>\n

Dr. Simon Demers-Marcil. This portrait was taken in accordance with public health recommendations, taking all necessary steps to protect participants from COVID-19. (Photograph by Candice Ward)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Demers-Marcil and his co-workers at Calgary\u2019s Peter Lougheed Centre were being shadowed by a media<\/a> crew when someone snapp<\/a>ed that image. \u201cThey asked if they could use that specific photo. At first, I admit I said no,\u201d he says. \u201cBecause maybe I felt a bit vulnerable, being exposed like that on a picture.\u201d But when the COVID case count rose, he told them to go ahead, because they thought the image might help people to understand what was at stake.<\/p>\n

When he has to call a family to say that someone has died or the end is near, Demers-Marcil tries to make sure he conveys the necessary information without overwhelming someone in the midst of emotional shock. \u201cI try to imagine what I would like to hear in a similar circumstance, although we\u2019re all different,\u201d he says. \u201cI try to remember that although I\u2019m emotionally involved too, I\u2019m not the one who\u2019s dealing with the loss of a loved one and I try to focus my energy on the person receiving the information.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are moments where he feels a tug of deeper connection to the person he\u2019s speaking to, either because they or the patient remind him of someone he loves, or because he can hear in them a kindred spirit, and those calls are particularly difficult. He\u2019s certain that every medical professional who has had that conversation has wept at one time or another. \u201cIt\u2019s impossible to take out completely that emotional side you\u2019re feeling,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd sometimes you\u2019re also disappointed you weren\u2019t able to provide a cure.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this moment, Demers-Marcil is cautiously optimistic; hospital and ICU numbers are falling as needles go into arms (he got his second vaccination in mid-February), and he senses that he and his colleagues are better protected for the fight they are in. \u201cIt feels like we\u2019re not going to war empty,\u201d he says. But the war isn\u2019t over yet.<\/p>\n\n

This profile appeared in the April 2021 issue of\u00a0<\/em>Maclean\u2019s, where we\u00a0gave our magazine over to a 22,000-word special report, \u201cYear One: The untold story of the pandemic in Canada.\u201d Read that whole story, and\u00a0learn why we did it.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#This candid photo conveyed the pandemic’s full weight of human suffering” Dr. Simon Demers-Marcil explains why he was initially reluctant to have the viral photo go public\u2014and how it feels to tell families they’re losing a loved one He\u2019s wearing a mask, of course. His raised left arm obscures the rest of his face, his…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":214187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/COVID-CANADA-MAHER-CHAPTER02-01-766x431.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1545,1356,67806],"class_list":["post-214186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-editors-picks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}