While we are worried sick some days about our son in NYC as that is now the COVID19 epicentre of America, we have friends in another province who are living a true nightmare over their family members overseas.
One of their daughters and her husband have been teaching at a university in China. They left China for a teachers’ conference in Thailand two months ago and have been awaiting permission to return to China ever since. Things were looking hopeful two weeks ago as cases in Wuhan began to drop, but their university in a different area of China has neither reopened nor made definite arrangements to complete the term online. In the past few days the spread of COVID19 in Thailand has accelerated and so our young friends made the decision to return home. They found a flight out for tomorrow. We pray they will be able to get out and home safely and avoid viral infection.
This same family has a son in university in New Zealand. Things were going well for him and it appeared he would be able to stay there to ride out the disaster more easily that he could return. However, that all changed two days ago and he had to scramble to get a flight back as far as Vancouver yesterday. Hopefully he was able to be on that flight, but how he would get from Vancouver to his home province was still a mystery when he left for the airport in New Zealand.
The entire family has spent over 48 hours booking, cancelling, rebooking, cancelling, rebooking as flights get cancelled by the airlines and prices fluctuate between nine hundred and nine thousand dollars for the same flightpath being taken by the various airlines. There is price gouging everywhere.
While arrangements for a safe quarantine site for all the kids and spouses are being made by their parents, who are at high risk for infection themselves due to underlying health problems of their own, there is an uncle in the family with serious issues as well. He has been very ill and incapacitated by pain and paralysis for a number of years. He is scheduled soon for a leg amputation and emotionally he cannot cope. His son had a car accident last year and is a quadriplegic. The son attempted suicide the other day, failed in his attempt and is now in the psychiatric ward at the same hospital as his father, but there is a legal restraining order that prevents them from seeing each other due to a shared criminal offence that occurred many years ago. So, they cannot comfort each other in their distress. Of course neither of these men can have any visitors due to the hospital lockdown. So, another upset for our friends.
Despite my worry about my son, I know where he is. I know that right now he is healthy and surviving even though his stress is high. I have only one child to worry about. My parents are as safe as it is possible to be. My husband’s family are healthy, self-isolating and taking every precaution.
Lord, please protect our friends’ family members and show them you are present in the midst of their many fears and travel trials. Thank you, amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment