The Best of Humanity Came Fighting Back . . .
I don’t know which were straight, which were gay, which were black, or which were hispanic. What I do know is that they came to us in wave upon wave of suffering, screaming, and death. And somehow, in that chaos, doctors, nurses, technicians, police, paramedics, and others, performed super human feats of compassion and care.
These are my work shoes from Saturday night. They are brand new, not even a week old. I came to work this morning and saw these in the corner my call room, next to the pile of dirty scrubs.
I had forgotten about them until now. On these shoes, soaked between its fibers, is the blood of 54 innocent human beings. I don’t know which were straight, which were gay, which were black, or which were hispanic. What I do know is that they came to us in wave upon wave of suffering, screaming, and death. And somehow, in that chaos, doctors, nurses, technicians, police, paramedics, and others, performed super human feats of compassion and care.
This blood, which poured out of those patients and soaked through my scrubs and shoes, will stain me forever. In these Rorschach patterns of red I will forever see their faces and the faces of those that gave everything they had in those dark hours.
There is still an enormous amount of work to be done. Some of that work will never end. And while I work I will continue to wear these shoes. And when the last patient leaves our hospital, I will take them off, and I will keep them in my office. I want to see them in front of me every time I go to work. For on June 12, after the worst of humanity reared its evil head, I saw the best of humanity come fighting right back. I never want to forget that night.
Dr. Joshua Corsa M.D, EMT-P
Orlando Regional Medical Center
Senior Resident, Department of Surgery
Orlando Health Pulse Orlando
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While I click ‘Like,’ it occurs to me there should be an ‘Agree’ button or a
“Sadness’ button. I don’t like the reality of what happened, but I applause the hard work and dedication of all the Police, Firepersons, Doctors, Nurses and all others who worked hard for all the victims. Thank you.
Athling, I agree. There are some things we don’t “like” and maybe there needs to be a “dislike” button so you can disagree discretely, without going ballistic about it. The disasters are mostly, in my book, about sad confused young men with access to assault weapons which should not be available. What I love (Go God!) is how the worst of times can bring together people in a way nothing else can. So ISIS may scheme and take credit, but these kinds of events have their own unexpected and positive blowback.