The people and the pain

By Sandra Romandía

The doors of the elevator, dented by time, remained closed at the Fernando Ocaranza Hospital of the Issste. To observe them in detail only revealed their stains, the inclination to one side, and the certainty that they would not be opened again that day. Meanwhile, medical personnel announced the cancellation of surgeries and other procedures because there was no way to get the patients down. Even if they were dying or crying in pain. Four floors up, a friend of mine was suffering from prolonged fasting prior to a surgery, rescheduled for the fourth time, which would also be impossible to perform. She sent a bedridden photo to the group chat, where the ceiling was - literally - falling down: "we are almost in Denmark".

It is difficult to narrate these stories that are lived daily in a country that placed its hope in a president who promised to eradicate these scenes that not only have not ended, but are multiplying.