The 335th Night of Memory - 10

Health Defenders

Sepideh Kholoosian
Translated by M. B. Khoshnevisan

2022-11-8

The 335^th program of the Night of Memory was held in the Sooreh Hall of the Art Center on Thursday 5^th of Khordad 1401 (May 26, 2022) attended by the physicians and the staff of the health defenders and hosted by Davood Slaehi. The families of the martyrs of health defenders, the medical health staff and a number of volunteers in the area of health were present in the ceremony, talking about the memoirs of the breakout and ascension of the corona pandemic.

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Mrs. Gohar Asemani Manesh, who is active in the national vaccination plan for medical students during the Corona period and broke the record of vaccinations during the peak of the pandemic, was the last narrator of the Night of Memory show represented by the country's health force. Asemani Manesh said: As a vaccinator, I gave 980 doses of injections in one day. When we were working as volunteers in this field, it was late June when the vaccine had just arrived and the amount of vaccine was small. For this reason, they had prioritized to give the vaccine to the elderly and special patients first. While people were coming, some were afraid of the vaccine. As the health force, we had the duty to teach them about the vaccine so that they would not be afraid.

Once, a middle-aged lady referred to me. We had prepared her when suddenly she started crying. I said: Mam, what has happened? She said: I lost my son a few weeks ago due to corona virus. I wish I could give my vaccine to my son and he was alive now. It was very painful for us to feel the grief of the people closely or to see that one by one our colleagues were martyred or carriers and their families were infected. This was a small part of the sadness and concern of the staff who worked at the vaccination center; But with all these concerns, we the students said:

If my keeper is the one I know

He holds the glass next to the stone

When I say "I" I don't mean only myself; rather, it is all the health forces that worked in this field. We considered it our duty to defend as health soldiers on the front of the Corona war. The vaccination continued until one day they called me and said: you have broken the record of vaccination. This was normal for me and I did not think that I would set a record with vaccination. We were so active in this area round-the-clock that it became normal for us and we did not feel tired. We had no idea that we were working for twelve hours without a break. We did not even have lunch or drink water. We used to only give the vaccine to control the disease sooner, and now, seeing the low number of deaths, it is as if the tree we planted is just beginning to bear fruit.

This outcome is the result of the efforts of the health and treatment staff, Basiji forces, Red Crescent forces and other loved ones who have worked in this area. Although there were many good and bad memories, the best memories were the good prayers that people said to us after each injection and gave us life again. As the grandson of a martyr, I worked in this field and continue the path of my martyred grandfathers, and I am happy that I have done something in this path.

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In the end, the host reminded the phrase "We wear these white clothes so that you don't wear black clothes" written on the special clothes of the medical staff and said, "We have presented more than 230 lovely martyrs during the twenty-odd months of Corona and this incident has also had many disabled veterans. The many memories that have been left behind and the different angles of the Corona virus should be seriously addressed”.

*The End*