Pictures of the Year: A Picture and its Story
Dr. Joseph Varon, 58, the chief medical officer at United Memorial Medical Center (UMMC), and a team of healthcare workers perform CPR on a COVID-19 patient at UMMC, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Houston, Texas, U.S., July 17, 2020. Reuters photographer Callaghan O'Hare: "Houston's COVID-19 cases had been rising for weeks and it was my third time photographing patients in the intensive care unit. I was following Doctor Varon and his team as they intubated two patients with worsening conditions. The first intubation went smoothly. We walked into the second patient's room and almost as soon as they began the procedure, his heart rate dropped. The air was filled with anxiety. I was in a corner of the room with my camera and it wasn't until two medical students jumped onto the bed and began administering chest compressions that I realized the patient was dying. The whole scene took place over the course of thirty minutes as we all nervously watched the clock and his heart rate monitor. Although this patient was surrounded by people while he died, they were faceless doctors in hazmat suits. He wasn't able to say goodbye to his family, friends, and the people who cared about him. I looked him up later on Facebook, and his profile picture had a filter on it that said, "I'm an essential worker, I can't stay home." I often think about him and the likelihood that he contracted the coronavirus at work. I hope his image and his story resonate with people and show why it's important to wear a mask and stay at home to protect those that can't." REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare/File photo SEARCH "POY STORIES 2020" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
