Love amid COVID-19 An 80-year-old Couple Discharged from Hospital2020.06.22

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 of 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 Prof. Zhi Min from The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, the old lady was hospitalized on February 4 and her husband was hospitalized 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 Prof. 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.

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 has been suffering from dementia for 7 years. Since then, she couldn’t take care of herself. Sometimes she went outside all alone but couldn’t find her way home, her family had to go and look for her. Since 2018, Grandma Li’s condition has deteriorated—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. 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 ice-cold. 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.

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 said, “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, Special Focus

By Liu Shan & Zheng Jingjing Photos by Zhang Lin & Li Junping