These ‘thank you’ videos to coronavirus helpers will leave you in tears
I’m not crying — you’re crying. Actually, we all are.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the world is seeing an emotional outpouring of support for medical professionals and other essential workers. People are taking to the streets to cheer on front-line workers from London to Barcelona, Spain to New York.
But folks are also sharing their virtual gratitude in video messages of thanks that tug at viewers’ heartstrings. Whether offering praise to hospital workers from afar or showing support for farmworkers who are keeping the world well fed, the YouTube generation is using their video savvy to make sure their messages are heard. And felt.
Here are some of the most heartwarming video tributes to essential personnel — the true heroes of the COVID-19 crisis. Your eyes should dry within a few hours, but we offer no guarantees.
Heroic hurrah
The University of Chicago Medicine uses a 2½-minute video to acknowledge letters and artwork — including kids’ drawings — sent by appreciative people from across the country. The compilation of messages from California, Washington state, Nebraska and beyond encourages medical professionals to “stay strong” and “stay safe,” with plenty of gratitude to spare. “Thank you for putting yourself in the way of danger to save others, to save the public,” says one message. “This is what it means to be a hero.”
Boston strong
More than two dozen survivors of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing offer a tag-team message of thanks and support in this touching message. Among the presenters are Marc Fucarile, who lost his right leg and was hospitalized for 100 days, and Jeff Bauman, who lost both legs and was portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal in the 2017 film “Stronger” about his recovery.
Kids’ message
An adorable collection of kids offer a chorus of thanks for the “awesome” people working in the trenches. The tike tributes take place in their living rooms, backyards and bedrooms — and in one case, while bouncing on an outdoor trampoline.
A whole new ballgame
A special message from @Pete_Alonso20. pic.twitter.com/PNMRJRpoJg
— MLB (@MLB) March 25, 2020
New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso delivers a surprise message to five first responders on the front lines, thanking them “for keeping everybody safe and providing protection for everybody.” The video has been viewed more than 107,000 times since it was posted March 25 on Major League Baseball’s social media accounts. On April 3, Alonso also sent a message to fans on Twitter saying he “can’t wait to hear y’all cheer your lungs out! Shake that damn stadium!”
Hooray for helpers
This compilation of news stories depicting “random acts of corona kindness” and “neighbor helping neighbor” was produced by Massachusetts filmmaker Michael Gilbert. The video encourages viewers to “look for the helpers” and includes clips about the New England Patriots sending 300,000 N95 masks to medical workers and an emotional sendoff for a patient who was applauded by medical personnel as she was discharged from a hospital.
‘We will get you home’
Cleveland Clinic patient Nic Brown, 38, was one of Ohio’s first COVID-19 cases. When his condition worsened, he was put on a ventilator — but hospital personnel rallied for him, leaving messages on his room’s glass door, including one that read, “We will get you home.” In the video, Brown heaps praise on his protectors. “I don’t know that I have ever seen such selfless people in my life. I really saw the love of God through these people,” says the husband and father of two daughters. “I feel like I’ve got a second chance at life.”
Saluting their own
Two workers at New Jersey’s RWJBarnabas Health Community Medical Center were hit with COVID-19, but they beat it — and they received a hearty sendoff from fellow staff members who “clapped them out” as they were discharged.
Cue the applause
On April 9, members of the NYPD gathered outside the Hospital for Special Surgery to applaud the “heroes” inside the Upper East Side facility. “We are deeply grateful for this show of support,” the hospital writes in the short video’s description.
‘Thank U Frontline’
Singer-songwriter Chris Mann borrows the music from Alanis Morissette’s “Thank U” and offers new lyrics of thanks to essential workers as images of first responders, grocery clerks, truck drivers, janitors, mail carriers and more flash by during the nearly five-minute video. “How ’bout taking a moment to thank the front line,” he croons. “How ’bout thinking of others who can’t stay home.”
You better believe
Even if you’re not a Journey fan, you’d be hard-pressed not to get choked up by the sight and sound of New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital workers blasting the rock group’s hit song “Don’t Stop Believin'” as recovered coronavirus patients are discharged from the Flushing facility.
‘Big’ thanks
“Big Little Lies” star Nicole Kidman offers her support to front-line workers as the daughter of a nurse herself. “I’ve seen a nurse in action my whole life. I used to hang out at the hospital when I was a little girl,” says Kidman, 52, who is a global ambassador for Swisse health and wellness company. “So to now be able to say thank you to all of you for your bravery and your selflessness in what you are doing, particularly during this time, is so important. We recognize you and we love you. Thank you.”
Senior salute
Senior residents at a Kentucky nursing home send a message of hope to those much younger than they who are waging the battle against COVID-19. Saying they themselves had survived the Great Depression, world wars and more, they offer a unified message for the younger generation’s battle: “You will win.”
Caravan of thanks
On April 10, residents around Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, DC, cheered, honked car horns and otherwise took to the streets to celebrate first responders, restaurant workers and the medical center staff. “That was so amazing,” one masked hospital worker says in the video. “It was the most emotional thing that I have ever experienced.”
Fake TV docs salute real-world docs
In a video orchestrated by former “House” actress Olivia Wilde, she and other television docs offer shout-outs to medical personnel battling the coronavirus crisis in real life. Among the stars taking part are “Scrubs” stars Zach Braff and Donald Faison, Patrick Dempsey of “Grey’s Anatomy” and Neil Patrick Harris of “Doogie Howser, MD” fame.
Surprise serenade
A Massachusetts nurse is moved to tears — and you will be, too — when two neighbors saddle up to a violin and a cello for an impromptu performance of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” in front of the shocked medical worker’s house.