FIGHTING FOR LIFE

Dr Liz Murray worked in Emergency Medicine during the cover-19 pandemic. During that time, the world changed for everyone. Liz produced her first public sculpture to capture her feelings towards PPE and the reality of life on the frontline of the NHS. The piece; a barbed wire ball with torn face masks strewn over was trying to capture the element of war and the fragility of the masks in a setting that felt like a battle field.

The piece became a finalist at the international competition Visual Art Open, 2020 and was exhibited in the Chester Arts Fair 2020.

'So much was appearing in the press and on social media that bared no reflection of the reality inside the hospital walls. There were days at its worst were patients (many young and healthy) were being wheeled in one after the other on oxygen fighting for their lives. Cardiac arrest call after cardiac arrest call became a familiar sound. We worked for weeks on adrenaline without break. Initially the PPE (protective clothing) consisted of several layers of gowns, respiratory masks, hat, goggles, two pairs of gloves...but as supplies ran out suddenly the 'guidelines' changed and the PPE recommended became less and it was not about what was deemed safe but what was available. The face mask was absolutely necessary despite the debates on social media, but in itself felt like such a feeble attempt to protect yourself when young people were dying before your eyes. The media referred to the frontline like a war zone, but the NHS staff were not trained as soldiers, were not experienced in this level of intensity. So many came out the other side with a degree of PTSD from the darkest days. It became an insult to see people minimising the impact of Covid online, if only there had been cameras to record and show the reality of what was happening people may have felt differently before spreading false claims online that led to avoidable deaths.'

Liz - Emergency Medicine Spr