When a couple marries, they vow to love, comfort, honour, and keep their spouse in sickness and in health, as long as they live.
This elderly Chinese couple is the epitome of that vow.
In a TikTok video shared on Twitter yesterday (3 Feb), the couple – believed to be in their 80s – stayed by each other’s side as long as they could, before they had to be separated for treatment.
In the tear-jerking video, the elderly couple held hands tightly as they said goodbye.
Here’s the tweet and the video. Just try not to tear up when you watch it.
The video shows the elderly couple in their hospital beds, holding hands as they say goodbye to each other. They were allegedly both coronavirus patients and had to be separated for treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Given their old age and uncertainty of survival, this could possibly be their last time seeing each other.
With their hospital beds pushed together, they grasped each others hands tightly as the elderly man mumbled reassuringly to his wife through his mask.
His wife was visibly struggling to breathe, and some comments suggest her monitor had sounded.
Still, her husband continued to squeeze her hand, comforting her through the agony.
The Tweet has gone viral, getting 12.5k shares in just over 24 hours. Thousands of netizens have expressed concern for the couple and responded with their well-wishes.
Many hope that the couple will make a speedy recovery so they can spend their remaining time together.
Others feel that it isn’t necessary to separate them, and that keeping them together would do them good.
Everyone who responded agrees that this video is heartbreaking and difficult to watch. Nonetheless, this elderly couple’s dedication to each other while in sickness has touched many.
Seeing an elderly couple share a tender moment despite their ill fate has given many netizens a reality check. They realised the gravity of the situation, and how the coronavirus epidemic is affecting the lives of people just like them.
Given the rather xenophobic response to the coronavirus, it’s heartening to see netizens realise their insensitive behaviour and offer prayers and encouragement instead.
We, too, hope that the couple both recover, or have their suffering come to a peaceful end soon.
With the global situation being more well-controlled, things are looking up for the outbreak. Along with vaccines in the making, it’s possible that the virus will be contained soon.
MS News wishes all those affected a speedy recovery.
Featured image adapted from Twitter.
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