January 31, 2022 • bachelor insider
Dr. Joe Park Posts Powerful Art Piece Created from Medication Caps Used to Treat COVID Patients: ‘I Wanted to Turn the Pain Into Something Meaningful’
Bachelor Nation fans first met Dr. Joe Park on Season 16 of “The Bachelorette,” and he went on to look for love on Season 7 of “Bachelor in Paradise.”
And as fans know, outside of his time on our TV screens, Dr. Joe is an anesthesiologist who’s been working tirelessly on the front lines throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the past few years, Joe has shared helpful resources and information with his thousands of followers about where they can access tests, vaccines, and more.
And now, the doctor just took to Instagram to share a special post about an art piece he’s been putting together while treating COVID patients.
Alongside photos and videos of the piece, Joe wrote, “I’ve been collecting medication caps for the past few months. The medications these caps came from were used to treat patients during the pandemic (the light blue caps treated patients’ pain, the orange caps kept patients comfortable and at ease, the white caps were from antibiotics which kept patients free of infection). I wanted to turn the pain/suffering associated with these caps into something meaningful to me.”
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Joe continued on and shared the significance of the person he created with the piece, writing, “This is a depiction of a nameless/genderless/ageless healthcare worker wearing PPE to represent the myriad backgrounds we all come from. I tried to convey sadness on this person’s face, this being the overarching emotion I’ve felt during this time. But, oddly enough, I’m happy I feel sad. Sadness tells me my heart is still warm and that I still care. Sadness from those gone too soon reminds me to appreciate the people I love, to savor the happy (and even the not so happy) moments, and if nothing else, sparks reflection.”
Dr. Joe shared that the Latin word written on the health care worker’s face means suffering and enduring, because “this current period has no doubt been marked with suffering. And all of us have had to endure so much.”
He went on in his post, adding, “I know many of us feel paralyzed and helpless — but most of us keep doing what we’ve been trained to do and fight alongside our patients, all of us doing our best to not go gentle into that good night. To be compassionate is to endure and suffer at times. And in that way, suffering may not always be such a bad thing.”
He thanked his fellow health care workers for their endless hard work and for helping him collect the caps to create this meaningful piece of art.
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Many of Joe’s fellow Bachelor Nation stars commented on his post in awe of this strength and creativity that showed through this artwork.
Chelsea Vaughn wrote, “This is so unbelievably cool on so many levels.”
Pieper James chimed in, saying, “Joe, this is amazing! What a powerful message!”
Bennett Jordan added, “You are a true renaissance man, an incredible friend, and a light on this earth. I’ll never let go, Joe!”
And fellow health care worker Magi Tareke wrote, “This is amazing!” with heart emojis.
We couldn’t agree more. We thank Dr. Joe and all of the other health care workers who are continuing to work countless hours amid the ongoing pandemic.