Cartoon Series by ICU Nurse Highlights Tender Moments Amidst Anti-Epidemic Battle

SHENYANG, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) — A daily update of a cartoon series drawn on tissue paper depicting a doctor reading CT scanning images, a nurse filling out a clinical history form and a disinfection worker in a protective suit and equipment has gone viral online.

The series records the real scenes from the eyes of a nurse working in the Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Jinzhou Central Hospital in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

The 31-year-old woman Wang Nan was transferred to the hospital's work on Feb. 10 to help treat patients infected with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Her first drawing featured a nurse falling asleep on a chair. A clock hanging on the wall reads 4:40 a.m.

"The nurse, after her night shift, fell asleep in the chair outside the ward before she could take off her thick protective clothing," said Wang, when talking about what inspired the drawing.

"She was off work after finishing her shift, but due to a sudden change of the patient's condition, she took part in another round of rescue," Wang said.

Feeling unable to express herself in words, Wang chose to use a pencil to capture these moments. She found a pencil in her hotel room, where medical staff lived in isolation. With simple pencil lines drawn on tissue paper, she created the comic series in her limited spare time.

She said she felt perplexed when she first started the work and the isolated life. Drawing has helped her soothe the tension.

"Behind each drawing, there is a story that touches me. I want to record the touching moments. I will stick to drawing the cartoon log until I win this war against the epidemic," she said.

After her colleagues revealed the cartoons online, hundreds of thousands of netizens are expecting Wang's daily cartoon.

"You are a talented cartoonist delayed by your profession," said an online comment.

"Wish you a safe return! And you can use your pencil to draw our beautiful lives," said another comment.

Liaoning Province has become one of a dozen provincial-level regions in China that have lowered the emergency response levels for COVID-19, after having reported no new coronavirus cases. The province has so far reported 121 confirmed cases and one death.

(Source: Xinhua)