I have always felt uncomfortable in hospitals, doctors’ offices, and around anyone in a white coat
who opens the door while I am waiting as a patient. My doctor finds this to be humorous. He
feels the same way when he walks into a courtroom.
But, consider how lucky we are to be surrounded by people with different gifts and talents from
God.
I shudder to think of a world where everyone wanted to be a lawyer…
Since the beginning of time, men have been at war, plagues have sickened and killed millions of
people, and natural disasters have ravaged a large part of the globe. Before March 2020, I only
focused on the bravery of soldiers, the level of talent that each general possessed, and the actions
of the political leaders as crisis enveloped their nations.
Something has changed.
2020 has been a year of extraordinary volatility. However, there is one critical shift in thinking
about the definition of a hero that has shed light on an undeniable truth. While brave soldiers
have fought and died on battlefields from Chickamauga, Georgia to the Ardennes Forest in
Belgium, it is easy to forget the men and women who shared the battlefield with those soldiers
when they served as medics, like Ernest Hemingway, and nurses, pulled dying men into shelters,
administered the most critical of medical care, and gently shut their eyelids after they gave their
life.
As a boy, I was positively influenced by Doctors Tom and Brenda Fitzgerald, Ralph Fleck,
Charlie Hubbard, and many more. I looked up to them. But, I did not understand the level of
dedication and passion for healthcare that they, and others, have.
My worldview has changed. Thinking about the west Georgia medical community, which is the
best in the state, the people I mentioned above, the fact that most of the stronger women in my
family have always been nurses, volunteered at Tanner Medical Center, or were heavily involved
in the medical field reminds me of something. Today, it is not the star athlete, brilliant military
commander, successful business person, talented politician, nor the attorney who never loses a
case who we should have the greatest respect and admiration for.
Our greatest heroes are the brave health care warriors on the front line who are fiercely
waging war on Covid-19.
I am proud to say that my mother, sisters, and other family members possess the type of courage
that propels them to battle a virus that is both extremely dangerous and an surrounded by
uncertainty. They are among the millions of selfless warriors who are focused on one goal;
defeating Covid-19.
Displays of courage by our health care warriors are the most inspiring things to watch. This is
particularly true in a world where cowardice is not only acceptable, but oftentimes is the norm.
While doctors and nurses receive the lion’s share of public recognition of their life-saving role in
this war, they actually represent less than 20% of all essential health care warriors. Nearly seven
million essential workers are employed on the COVID-19 front lines, including:
Health care support workers such as orderlies and phlebotomists;
Direct care workers such as home health and personal care aides; and
Health care service workers such as housekeepers and cooks.
The vast majority of these warriors do not serve because of money or recognition. They serve
because they were born with the natural desire to help other people and their community.
While there is a vast amount of uncertainty and fear associated with this virus, I am it peace. This
peace is the result of knowing that an army consisting of millions of highly trained and fearless
warriors wake up every day with the primary goal of defeating an adversary that is weakening
every day.
I ask you to join me in a simple, yet important task. The next time that we see a health care
warrior, let’s approach them and thank them from the bottom of our heart.