In an attempt to boost morale at the hospital where she works, a Melfort nurse has strung Christmas lights to spell out HOPE.
Laura Alexander would like to challenge other facilities to do the same.
“I would really like to see that unity within the province in other facilities. As things get a little tougher here, we are really going to need it,” she said.
“I would like to extend that challenge forward and see other facilities kind of show their ways of portraying hope, whether it be lights, signs or banners.”
Everyone she works with, like her, is very stressed by the rising number of COVID cases in the province.
She thought it could remind people when they went to the hospital, or drove by, that Saskatchewan residents can get through this pandemic together if they continue to have hope.
She says people were in tears when they first saw her lights.
“It was a wonderful surprise for me that something so little made such a big difference,” Alexander said.
As she pulls into work, Alexander says she glances at the lights for a reminder.
“Whenever I go to work on a night shift and I see the ‘HOPE’ in lights, before I even start my shift I tell myself, ‘You can do this. Whatever happens, you’re going to get through this,’ ” she said.
Melfort is 160 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon.