At Diospi Suyana Hospital only patients and animals are allowed to sleep at night
The child is less than two years old and can barely breathe. The two pediatricians, Dr. Martina John and Dr. Christian Reibold, and the nurses are wide awake. Does the little girl need to be intubated? Medication and oxygen. Everything has to happen very quickly now. An anxious look at the monitor. What is the oxygen saturation in the blood?
Technician Ruben Bereswill probably imagined the night from Friday to Saturday differently. The ventilator is defective and he is looking for the fault. His tinkering is finally crowned with success. In the test run, all parameters are back in the green zone. In principle, he can go back to bed.
It’s raining outside. The drive over the pass involves risks. Dr. Christian Reibold has not lost his confidence. The driver, Don Donato, is an experienced man. He won’t fall asleep at the wheel. Nurse Donna Aroyo looks tired. If things go well, she can go home at 2 o’clock. First work, then sleep.
In most of the hospital rooms, only a small night light is on. But bright lights shine out of the windows of the intensive care unit. Two critical patients want and are expected to survive. Every life story is different, but illness, suffering and death threaten us all. But there is an important difference. Those who trust in God count on God’s closeness. A king wrote 3,000 years ago: “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You (God) are with me!” (From Psalm 23)
