A message to our future doctors
Mary
She said ‘I will never forget the face of the doctor who told me what had happened – I knew immediately from his facial expression that there was nothing else that could have been done that he would not have done. That doctor’s face stayed with me for months, and I can still see it now.’
Despite the tragic loss of her husband, Mary found comfort in this clinician’s compassion and she wanted the medical students to know how much it meant to her.
At home she began to draw roses – flowers which she and her husband had shared a great fondness. She recalled a print of the painting ‘The Weeping Rose’ they had purchased together many years previously and began some drawings in her sketchbook. In the next session, she combined a broken, dried rose with the pin-pricked outline of a dove on white card, telling us that this combination symbolized how she was trying to bring peace back into her life.
This image really touched me today, and I am glad to have read the story behind it. Thank you for posting it here.
This is a very poignant recollection of such a heartbreaking event, and it’s amazing to see artwork from someone so directly involved. I hope that the doctor’s compassion and dedication can serve as an inspiration for all the future doctors who read about it. Thank you so much for sharing this.
How rapidly things can change never ceases to prove itself evident. This story displays with simplicity the pain and nuances of loss. Grateful to have seen and heard Mary’s experience and that as clinicians every manner in which scenarios are handled matters.