The coronavirus has taken more than 40,000 American lives as of April 19, according to CBS News.
So when a patient survives, it’s something to celebrate.
More than 60,000 Americans have recovered from the virus.
Many hospitals across the U.S. are making an affair out of releasing their recovered patients.
Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA sees their recovered Covid-19 patients as champions.
And they give their discharged patients a departing ceremony fitting for a champion.
This celebration of life is called a “Code Rocky.”
It involves playing the theme song from the 1976 American sports drama “Rocky” starring Sylvester Stallone.
That rags to riches story about an uneducated loan shark debt collector and small-time boxer who works for a chance to win the world heavyweight championship.
We have a new code, CODE ROCKY! Every time a #COVID19 positive patient is well enough to go home, the code is called along with the Rocky theme song. As one of our employees said, “This is what my heart needed. Thank you Baystate healthcare workers for making a difference!” pic.twitter.com/WgKmmsFIhD
— Baystate Health (@Baystate_Health) April 10, 2020
A film that was barely made at all under a $1 million budge that went on to earn more than $225 million at the box office.
During a Cody Rocky, the patient is wheeled into the hospital’s Daly Lobby while the music plays as doctors, nurses, security guards and other hospital staff cheer them on as they exit the hospital.
Like Rocky, these patients are fighters that fought and won the battle against coronavirus.
“We have a new code, CODE ROCKY!” the hospital wrote on their Twitter page. “Every time a #COVID19 positive patient is well enough to go home, the code is called along with the Rocky theme song.”
“As one of our employees said, ‘This is what my heart needed. Thank you Baystate healthcare workers for making a difference!'”
The Tweet that contained a video of one of their Code Rocky discharges has been viewed more than 75,000 times.
The YouTube version of the video has gotten more than 21,000 views.
“This is wonderful. I hope you all hear the Rocky theme so much that you never want to hear it again after all this! Thank you all for being the caregivers that our country needs the most right now. You all rock!” wrote one person on Twitter.
“Watching the joy & support shown by these healthcare pros as a Covid recovered patient is released is so touching! Truly selfless hero’s! We have recoveries thanks to their dedication & care!! GRATEFUL to them all!!! Stay safe & well,” said another.
Mount Sinai South Nassau in Oceanside, Long Island in New York blasts “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles whenever a Covid-19 patient is discharged.
And “Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey plays when coronavirus patients leave in one Orange County, New York hospital, according to their county executive, Steve Neuhaus.
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Stephanie Kim was battling coronavirus and was wondering why Pharrell’s song “Happy” kept playing over the intercom. She later found out that this was a Code Happy.
“At one point, I asked somebody why they were doing that, and they said it means someone with COVID-19 has recovered enough to go home,” Kim told 10 Boston.
“It was emotional. It’s nice to just know it’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
Kim ended up getting her very own Code Happy.
“You just don’t know how something so small can impact so many people,” Kim said. “It’s nice to know other people are rooting about that.”
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