COVID-19 The most severe effects of the pandemic occurred mostly behind closed doors. 800,000 Americans died and many more fell ill.
David He Beguenot, a leading national correspondent for CBS News and "CBS Morning," has been extensively reporting on his COVID-19 across the country since the pandemic began. Everywhere we went, nurses and doctors told Benno, "If only the public could see what we saw." Alan Hawes sought to document the impact of COVID-19 through photography. When working at the Medical College of South Carolina in Charleston, he has the special ability to care for the sickest of his COVID patients who are sick.
Hawes was a nurse 11 years ago. Before that, he spent 23 years as a newspaper photographer, which enabled him to tell the stories of several patients.
In one photo, hospitalized patient Ryan Simpson was taken to the hospital's cardiac ICU, where many had rapid heartbeats. I was rushed to the hospital because of this. day to day.
"How fast," Benno asked.
"From 135 to 165," Hawes said.
One photo shows the moment when Ryan's wife, Sarah, met her husband for the first time.
"I think [she] was kind of surprised by all the people in the room who were preparing to take him into the operating room," said Mr. Hawes. 42} Hawes visualizes what caregivers and frontline workers see on a daily basis. His photos document how COVID tightens.
In one photograph, Hawes The woman's family brought her a prayer cloth and asked her to be with her at all times.The woman later died, Hawes said.
In another instance, a man is seen texting people on his mobile phone telling him what's going on.
Hawes said he took the picture because he felt "he knew where he was going."
What Hawes believed came true — the man had been intubated
"Two days later I went inside and there said Hawes.
The man survived and was not vaccinated.
"Many times I've seen unvaccinated patients and I think, 'I did this to myself,'" he said. "And I said, 'You can't invest emotions in you. 77}
'Having empathy is part of being a good nurse,'" he said. I was. "Hearing family stories about some of our patients, you can become a fan of them and know they made bad decisions."
Hawes said they humanize the But the nurse is mentally broken now so it's been a struggle, he said, and he feels it too.
They give permission to take pictures.
"I think people have the message that they want to be out there," he said. It took him a year and a half to get permission for the
project. "When I got approval for this project, I titled my email 'Public Service Project' and I think that made a difference," his Hawes said.
Among the photographs taken by Hawes is a mother holding an untouchable photograph of her newborn. Also depicted is a girlfriend keeping a diary by her bedside.
The journal reads: ``Steve James Lavender, I know I love you with all my heart and soul. I tell my family: It's a roller coaster, it's two steps forward and one step back," Hawes said.
Pictured is his Hawes colleague, a nurse who has had three vaccinations but is a lifelong asthma sufferer. He is seen having trouble breathing.
Mr. Hawes, he said, does not take pictures of his patients.
Keem was an exception. In her photograph, she wrote "I feel miserable" on a whiteboard.
As the days went by, she fell ill and was sedated. The next day, her nurse hoped music therapy would help.
Hawes said she thought Keam would be successful.
``I think so. Said.
When Joel David Croxton died, he was 72 years old. Hawes remembered what he meant to the hospital.
"I think he struck a chord with almost every nurse on our ward when he was there," he said.
In the image, the nurse is broken After calling Croxton's wife, who is seen to be there, and telling her it's time to say goodbye, she goes down. In another photo, his wife Sandy arrived and was holding his hand. A nurse Facetime with a pastor using an iPad.
Hawes worried when he saw one of Croxton's pictures. Is it too painful for his wife to see?
Hawes would not normally see his family again, but in this case Hawes did see his Sandy Croxton again.
Hose is having a hard time. He said at one point, frontline workers were initially worried about his COVID, but now they're not really worried.
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