“They need something to free them from the fear of death”

Watch the interview with medical clowns Tal Stein (Dr. Till) and Shoshi Ofir at the Ynet studio:

Tal Stein is an actress and medical clown, whose clown name is Dr. Till. She is 54 years old, married and a mother of three and lives in Bnei Yehuda in the Golan Heights.

Since 2013, Stein has been working at Peda Poria Hospital and Ziv Hospital as a medical clown and as part of the “Dream Doctors” project she accompanies terminally ill patients, children for surgery, adults, the elderly in various procedures, in the past year she also enters the corona wards.

“We are hospital employees on behalf of the ” Dream Doctors’ project,” Stein explains. “We have regular days, hours, shifts. In Corona we started working through a transparent partition, communication through movements, telephone and more, only then when they saw the need for patients we started to enter the wards. “

Her colleague – Shoshi Ofir (56) is a medical clown for over 17 years, at Poria Hospital and also at Ziv Hospital in Safed, with a master’s degree in drama drama, married and living in Kfar Haruv in the southern Golan Heights.

“I started working in the Corona ward in the first wave, we then worked through the window, we did not go in. In the second wave in early October, when the general condition of the Corona patients worsened, we started to go in,” Ofir explains. “I work in other wards at the hospital, from preterm birth to adults, including escort for surgeries, MRI, gastro, maternity, delivery rooms and more. At first my family was scared, I was not. I defend well, keep a safe distance and follow procedures.”

You did not give up on the red nose and hat even though the equipment of the corona department makes it difficult for you Shoshi Ofir: “We never give up on the red nose. When we come in with the red nose they know to recognize that we are clowns with all the embellishments, that we are something different from the rest of the staff. It is our hallmark outside the Corona department and especially inside the department.”

We hear what’s going on in the corona departments. People who are unable to breathe, are anesthetized and respirated. How do you handle this?
Shoshi Ofir: “In general in medical clowning we look for what is good, what does work, what are they good at and what do we succeed in doing and connect to it to greatly increase this part of the person. Because a person is not only sick, he also has a healthy part and we Trying to focus on the healthy part and increase it.We not only see the respirators, the difficulty the disease.We see the people, their laughter, their smile.

Tal Stein: “The hotel they are in, everything they get in. Yes, we ask them to rate the hotel they are in, the staff gets a million stars.”

What responses do you get?
Ophir: “Mostly they are good, a lot of surprises. There is a big surprise and joy. And I feel very grateful that we go in and are right with them within the Corona department. It is not obvious to them, maybe we do as part of our role. The reactions are good and loving and warm, “People drink us sometimes – they really want us not to go there, to stay.”

Stein: “When we meet the patients we connect the world of the outside with the world of the inside. It gives them a very good feeling, it’s kind of a friend on the road. And they are very happy.”

Corona classes are sadder than you usually know?
Ophir: “There is a lot more loneliness in the corona ward, there is also fear, real fear of death seen in people’s eyes. And no visitors, almost no visitors, they are really alone. They do not know where it developed, see that their neighbor who was really fine in the morning, suddenly in the evening “So there is a very big fear.”

“I feel that they are very much needed, we need a smile, someone who will distract them from the situation they are in,” Ofir concludes. “Someone who will release them even for a few minutes from the fear of death they see in their eyes. Feels it is very necessary for patients and staff.”