- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in a new window)
- Click to email a friend (Opens in a new window)
Spaniards can go outside for a while 4:12
(CNN) - A Spanish doctor was struggling to cheer on his 79-year-old patient who had coronavirus. Pedro had tested positive for covid-19 five times and had symptoms for 46 days.
The doctor went to Twitter, looking for a stimulus from anywhere for Pedro. "He is desolate and wanting to throw in the towel," Dr. Carlos Hernández Teixidó wrote on Tuesday. "Twitter, do your magic."
⭕️I have a 79-year-old patient who has given his 5th positive COVID PCR after 46 days with symptoms. It is desolate and wanting to throw in the towel.
IIf you leave me messages here, introduce yourselves, saying where you are from and send me your encouragement.
WitterTwitter do your magic ...
- Carlos Hdez Teixidó (@carlos_teixi) April 28, 2020
The response was immediate, comprehensive, and overwhelming. He received 8,100 responses to his post alone, many more direct messages, more than 31,200 likes, and had been retweeted more than 8,400 times.
Dr. Carlos Hernandez (left) with two colleagues at the Badajoz University Hospital. (Credit: Carlos Hernandez Teixido)
"I just spoke to Pedro and his daughter," Hernandez said on his Twitter account less than 24 hours after its initial posting. "You do not know the crying (sic) that we both hit. I have given your daughter the first 300 printed messages. The rest will be read by your granddaughter directly from Twitter. YOU ARE INCREDIBLE!!".
- Spain plans to reach a "new normal" in four phases
In total, Hernández received more than 15,000 direct messages for Pedro, he told CNN on Thursday. "Not only messages, people sent photos, videos, some even played music to try to cheer him up."
"We decided to publish the tweet to try to get 15 people to send him a message to lift his spirits," said Hernandez, confessing that he was very surprised by the large amount of support. "We published it at 3 o'clock in the afternoon and by midnight we had 300 messages, including from some celebrities in Spain."
The messages came not only from Spain, but also from neighboring Portugal and from other parts of Europe, as well as from Latin America. For a time, the phrase "Hello Pedro" even became a trending topic on Twitter in Spain.
According to Hernández, Pedro has several underlying conditions and had spent about a month in the hospital after being diagnosed. His condition improved, but as the covid-19 tests continued to give positive results, he had to continue the isolation at home, without seeing his wife or the rest of his family.
"Today I talked a little with him and he is in a very good mood," said Hernández, explaining that for people in Pedro's situation, this type of support "is almost like providing treatment with medication."
But the doctor added that while Pedro's condition has improved his most recent test, the sixth, which also tested positive for covid-19.
covid-19