August 4, 2020
Just before healthcare workers around the world became frontline fighters of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, nurses at Loring Hospital received a vibrant bouquet of flowers to serve as a much-needed reminder that the work they do makes an impact. But it was the note with the flowers that really struck a chord. It read: "If everybody treated everybody else the way you treat your patients, what an amazing world we would have."
The gesture was sent by Gene Wassom, who had been admitted to the hospital on February 5 for severe abdominal pain that turned out to be acute diverticulitis, or inflammation in a part of his colon wall.