Doctor Writes Prescription for Grandma That Says She Can Hug Her Granddaughter After Full Vaccine
“It was blissful, it was wonderful and it was something I am going to remember for the rest of my life,” Evelyn Shaw said of the hug
By Joelle Goldstein
People
A grandmother who hadn’t seen her family in months due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic finally got to hug her granddaughter after receiving a sweet doctor’s permission.
Evelyn Shaw told CNN that it had been a year since she was last able to share an embrace with her granddaughter, Ateret Frank.
However, thanks to the vaccine and a surprise gift from her doctor — a prescription that stated she was allowed to hug her granddaughter — Evelyn finally got to reunite with her loved ones.
“We were standing in my apartment, just hugging and hugging and crying and crying for the first time in a year, which was an out-of-body experience,” Evelyn told CNN of the moment.
“It was blissful, it was wonderful and it was something I am going to remember for the rest of my life,” she added.
Evelyn told CNN that Ateret and her daughter, Dr. Laura Shaw Frank, initially showed up to her apartment with “a little gift” but she was hesitant to let them in.
“My granddaughter had completed her COVID protocol but I was not going to let her in… even though I had completed my vaccines,” Evelyn explained to the outlet. “I was stuck in COVID land.”
After opening the gift and reading the prescription, Evelyn said “something happened to me.”
“Having this prescription from my doctor gave me the courage to let her in,” she explained to the outlet.
Once Ateret was inside, the two shared a long embrace — an emotional moment that was captured on video and posted to Evelyn’s daughter, Jessica Shaw’s Twitter.
Beside the clip — which has since gone viral — Jessica wrote: “First hug she’s had in a year. Thank you to all the scientists and doctors who made this happen!”
Speaking to CNN, Evelyn thanked her doctor for writing the prescription and said it helped her with transitioning from the fear of COVID to “a better place of hope and possibilities and more hugs and kisses.”
Ateret also admitted to the outlet that she was “nervous” to hug her grandma, but said “it felt incredible” afterward.
“Even though I have my shots, it’s still, as my grandmother said, it feels weird,” she explained. “Having that prescription in my hand, it felt like a permission slip to be able to hug my grandmother and once I did it, it felt natural. It felt like a relief and I immediately started crying.”
On Twitter, Laura echoed her mom’s sentiments beside the photo of the prescription.
“THIS is holistic medical care,” she wrote in the tweet. “Our mom’s doctor (also mine and my daughter’s doctor) knows that our mom is very nervous to return to the world even after vax x2 + 2 weeks. She figured out how to ease her path. Medical care from the heart.”
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As the country continues to distribute the vaccine and adjust to new guidelines, Evelyn said she hopes their reunion will inspire others to “do the right thing” so that they can share similar moments with their loved ones.
“It’s been a very dark year, listening to the news, reading the paper,” she told CNN. “Wear your mask, get your vaccines, wash your hands, stay socially distanced because at the end of all of this is the reward.”
“It’s that hug that you saw… not only for one child but for your whole family and for your friends and for our community and our state,” she continued. “And as far as I’m concerned, for the world.”