“I am thankful to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that I’m still alive. I hope that many of us too learn to appreciate this gift of life. My message to everyone, enjoy the little moments more. Follow the rules and take better care of yourself. We have a saying, “stay at home while we do our work.” We need to be all in this together, we need teamwork.” -Rhey Ecobiza

Rhey Ecobiza has been an ER Nurse for around 7 years in Davao City. He works at Southern Philippines Medical Centre, the biggest hospital in the country.

It was around the second week of March when the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) started. It had a huge impact on the way people lived, the way they worked.

Rhey mentioned that at first, they still didn’t feel its effect, this pandemic and the ECQ, there was just less traffic. But it was still quite challenging as they had to change living arrangements – they couldn’t go home, they already had to stay in dormitories. At least there was wifi, and they could still video call their families.

He just got married recently and it was quite tough. But seeing his wife was his added motivation to do things right as cases started to pour in. He needed to be careful while protecting himself. That’s the only way he could eventually go home.

On one end, Rhey said that he feels privileged to be serving the public. In a way, it’s like fulfilling his childhood dream of becoming a superhero. He is on the frontlines helping humanity. On the other, though, it’s really scary, especially when one of their colleagues tested positive for COVID-19.

He said even before the pandemic, being an ER nurse was already tough. Once you’re in the ER, there's non-stop action. You can’t eat, nor can you use the restroom. But now, they have to do things in full PPE. He said it’s hot to wear and feels like you’re being suffocated. It gets even harder to perform CPR on patients. In those moments, it feels like losing all the oxygen in your brain because of the heat. But they have no choice but to do it.

Rhey likes to draw strength from the little moments – the thank yous they get from the family of patients they revive. It’s in those moments that he feels like he’d rather give all his energy and be tired to the point of exhaustion, just as long as they get to rescue people.

It helps too that they get to feel the support of the fellow Filipinos. Businesses send PPEs to them, food chains feed them. There was even a time when kids sent them inspirational notes. That was really touching. He also hopes, at the end of the day, the government and other institutions show their appreciation for the front liners beyond lip service.