Woman Fights Through Back Pain To Sew Masks: San Ramon Hero

SAN RAMON, CA — When times are tough, heroes emerge. And Tri-Valley is full of them.

We all know someone who's making a difference right now as we live through unprecedented times. Here at Patch, we've launched an initiative to help recognize these everyday heroes.

This submission comes from Melinda S. of San Ramon, who nominated her grandmother and translated her grandmother's journal entry for inclusion in this post:

My name is Melinda, I am a 14-year-old middle schooler, who translated my grandmother’s journal entry from Chinese into English. I did this because I look around and I hear the cries and stories of others who still struggle amid this virus; frontline workers who already risk their lives, and yet sometimes go throughout their day without proper resources to protect themselves; people who are sick because they couldn’t safeguard their health; people, whether doctors, delivery workers, grocery store workers, or anyone who can’t stay within their homes. It’s heartbreaking to hear.

Even so, what warms my heart is hearing of the people who, even when confined, seek to help out others. It’s touching for me, to wake up in the morning and head downstairs to discover my grandmother, crouched over a sleek white sewing machine with a pile of finished masks beside her. She’s been so dedicated to this task, that lately, she’s been experiencing piercing back pain for days. I often find her flinching heat pack in hand, while lying exhausted on our living room couch. I wanted to share this story to inspire others to incite change because, during the chaos, we should be able to look around and find comfort in the helping hands of others. I desire to create change because we can’t do this alone, it takes a village.

From Melinda's grandmother:

I am an 86 year-old senior and a retired physician. After retirement, I chose to live with my daughter who resides in the US, California. I have been living a peaceful and joyful life with my daughter's family until the COVID-19 pandemic hit us sudden and hard. In these dark and turbulent times, where hundreds of thousands of people died in less than two months, we must all do what we can to unite together as a community and aid one another. This is why I took my time wholeheartedly to participate in a volunteering program my daughter introduced to me called “It Takes a Village.”

Today I finished another 75 face masks, if I add the last two times, then that would be 185 pieces in total. After countless days and nights working tirelessly at the sewing machine, I was ecstatic that I had finished so many. I feel like I have done my very best to fight the pandemic while being confined within my home.

From the bottom of my heart, I deeply miss those fallen frontline health workers, who died from being infected with the coronavirus while saving patients. If I had still been in my practice, I would for sure be among the numerous health care workers fighting on the front lines regardless of the fear of death. Because saving patient lives, and curing them of illnesses, are the divine duties of a doctor, even if there are potential risks of being exposed to a dangerous and contagious virus. Therefore the opportunity for me to sew hundreds of masks was the least I could do to fulfill my duties to support those out there.

The sole purpose of this program is to provide safety materials such as masks and face shields for those health care workers who are desperately in need of those resources. I am proud to be a part of this community to help those who are struggling; those who are laboring day and night to help others; those who are sick, gasping for breath; those lying crumpled on death’s doorstep. To support them is the greatest honor, a form of joy, and gift of all. Trouble clouds over our world and we are no longer separated as individuals because for once we have a common cause and enemy, just one thing we all can band together under.

In these strange times, each helping hand is another step towards saving more lives. I am grateful for volunteering organizations such as “It Takes a Village” for giving people like me a great chance to use our own hands and hard work to make face masks to help people across America. I am honored to be able to use my hard work to make masks, to express my love for the people of this great country.

Thank you for all you do!

All photos included in this post are owned by identified third parties who have given Patch the right to use explicitly for the Patch Local Heroes series.

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More News From Patch:

• San Ramon Coronavirus News
• California Coronavirus News