Well, you asked for it.
So here it is, a news of silver lining amidst our confinements and dull, inhumane lives stuck in our homes.
It all began on March 21, when Dr. Sarosh Ashraf Janjua, a busy, hard-working cardiologist at the Duluth Corona virus quarantine unit, was inevitably speeding across the Minnesota highway. Given the urgency of the matter, she would have had to explain quite a lot about her job to avoid losing more lives.
But no explanation was needed. Not only did she got off with just a warning about the dangers of speeding from the Minnesota State trooper Brian Schwartz, but he provided her with his coveted spare 3M N95 masks of five quantities.
She recounts this in her very own Facebook page, later elaborating the same account on CNN with the anchor Anderson Cooper:
“I burst into tears. And though it may just have been the cold wind, I think he teared up as well, before wishing me well and walking away.”
Her reminiscences go on to say that she almost felt the Samaritan touch, something we have long missed in the inundation of terrible news across the globe:
“This complete stranger, who owed me nothing and is more on the front lines than I am, shared his precious masks with me, without my even asking.”
Since her Facebook post upload, the account blew up into national news, giving the people a warm glow in their hearts. But the other side of the story was missing – how and why did the trooper act in such ways.
On being asked to how he knew the doctor was in desperate need of masks, Schwartz went on to say that he noticed “what appeared to be two used N95 masks in Ashraf’s purse that he assumed she was reusing”, according to the Minnesota State Patrol’s statements.
We have all witnessed how masks and all necessary sanitizing amenities were in dire short supply since the beginning of February, imposing danger to the health care workers like Janjua a very limited protection. Reusing the long overdue masks is now almost a prerogative on the field, while the threats of infection along the way increase dramatically.
Bostonian by birth, Janjua has been displaced far from home to display her spirit of sacrifice to public health in the times of the pandemic. When the limelights turned back to the Minnesota State Patrol, they acknowledged her and her colleagues’ efforts, saying this was meant to be:
“Thank you to Sarosh for her hard work and dedication. Troopers are working hard during the pandemic and are thinking about all the first responders who are caring for Minnesotans during this critical time”
Don’t forget to be kind. This is the essence of today’s rare, but precious, silver linings.
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