A voice full of hope: Mexican nurse sings to patients infected with COVID-19

Paúl Lizárraga

, a 32-year-old nurse who works at Ciudad Obregón’s High Specialty Medical Unit (UMAE) in Sonora, went viral in social media after people shared a video on Facebook showing him singing to a patient infected with COVID-19 .

“I’ve always liked to sing , so every time I entered the COVID-19 area, I noticed patients were depressed and the environment was gloomy .

“I began singing Mexican regional music songs and patients started to request specific ones, and I noticed their humor improved and the screens showed improvement in their health too. Since then, patients began to recognize me,” said Paúl in a phone interview with EL UNIVERSAL .

The young nurse from Cuiacán explained that the situation is very sad because the patients have to remain in isolation . “It’s a very sad area because patients are isolated and cannot receive any visitors .

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“We have a special suit so as not to get infected ,” he said.

A video shows Paúl singing “ Acá entre nos ,” a song by Vicente Fernández , while the patient recording him with a cellphone sounds excited .

Paúl said he did not notice he was being recorded. It was until he began receiving messages via Facebook that he realized the impact his kind act had. “I woke up one day, checked up my cellphone, and it began crashing from so many messages I received; that’s when I knew it had gone viral ,

“People in social media are really grateful ,” he added.

The Sinaloa nurse asserted that he has sung several songs to the patients, however, he does not let that distract him from taking care of them.

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Some of the songs he has been requested to sing are “ Acá entre nos, ” “ Árboles de la barranca ,” and “ El coyote .”

Paúl said he wishes to keep singing to patients for he knows how hard it is for them to remain in isolation : “I’ll keep singing gladly whenever they ask me to.”

“I’ve been working here for two years and I never imagined living this. God knows I know this from my heart and for my patients ” he said.

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