In London, over 2 lakh painted hearts form a poignant tribute to lives lost to COVID-19. Each heart represents an individual, symbolizing the collective grief and resilience of a city profoundly impacted by the pandemic. This moving memorial stands as a reminder of the human cost of the crisis while celebrating love and unity in the face of unprecedented challenges.
Families in the UK, mourning nearly 240,000 lives lost to COVID-19, have decorated a London wall with festive lights, serving as a poignant symbol of love, grief, and anger.
As another Christmas marked by loss approaches, raw emotions linger nearly five years after the global pandemic began, along with accusations that the government was slow to act during the crisis.
The wall, located along the Thames and facing the British parliament, features around 240,000 hand-painted hearts. Each of the hearts on the 500-metre-long wall represents one life lost in the UK to the disease, which disrupted lives worldwide after emerging in China in December 2019. “We put up lights every Christmas as a way to remember those no longer with us,” said Kirsten Hackman, 58, whose mother passed away from COVID-19 in May 2020.
“This Christmas, many of us feel the void of an empty seat at the table,” she added. Volunteers describe the wall as a collective “therapy session.” According to the World Health Organization, over seven million people globally have died from COVID-19 since 2019, although the actual death toll is likely much higher. Messages inscribed on the hearts at the London wall reflect the profound emotional scars left by the pandemic in the UK.
“Mommy, love you forever,” reads one message, while another says, “Phil, always in my heart.” Initially created as a temporary memorial, the wall was set up in March 2021 without official permission as a protest against then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s handling of the pandemic.
Johnson faced criticism for underestimating COVID’s threat and delaying lockdown measures to contain the virus’s spread. The wall represents an “outpouring of love, anger, and rage,” said Lorelei King, whose husband died of COVID-19 in March 2020. King, 71, is a member of the "Friends of the Wall," a group of volunteers who meet weekly to clean the wall, repaint faded hearts, and refresh the messages.
“It’s a meditative process,” King noted. The group continues to add new hearts as COVID-19 claims more lives. On the Friday before Christmas, the volunteers came together for a brighter task: adorning the wall with festive lights. The lights, switched on the following Monday, will stay in place until early January.
Nearly five years after the pandemic began, the grief remains raw, said King, who, like many, was unable to mourn properly due to lockdown restrictions. “We couldn’t hold a proper funeral,” she explained, recalling the severe limitations on visiting loved ones in their final moments and the bans on large gatherings. King channels her grief into maintaining the wall, saying, “It brings me comfort, and I want to ensure that those we’ve lost are never forgotten.”
“We’re all in this together,” added Michelle Rumball, 53, whose mother died of COVID-19 in April 2020. Rumball participated on the first day hearts were painted after a social media call by the activist group Led By Donkeys. Over ten days, hundreds of grieving individuals came forward to contribute, risking arrest for defacing a listed wall. “I was filled with anger back then. It was an act of protest,” Rumball recalled.
Discussions are underway with authorities to grant the wall official recognition and permanent status, ensuring its preservation through consistent support. Just days before Christmas, the group held a “very positive” meeting regarding the wall’s future, King shared. WHO figures report over 232,000 COVID-related deaths in the UK, compared to around 168,000 in France.
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Source: NDTV