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Kelowna couple writing tribute song to health care workers

The couple is asking for health care workerssa国际传媒 selfies to add to a music video
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A health care worker is seen outside the Emergency dept. of the Vancouver General Hospital in Vancouver Monday, March 30, 2020. . THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Kelowna couple Jim and Kim Rhindress are hard at work writing and recording a song of tribute to the worldsa国际传媒檚 health-care heroes.

Jim was a surgical nurse for 25 years, spending the last 17 years at the Kelowna General Hospital before a back injury forced him to retire. He still has friends on the floor and who are on the frontlines battling COVID-19.

sa国际传媒淏eing here at home and hearing from all my friends about what theysa国际传媒檙e going through, itsa国际传媒檚 hard,sa国际传媒 he said.

sa国际传媒淎nd of course, watching the news and feeling so incredibly helpless to do anythingsa国际传媒 all wesa国际传媒檙e being told to do is sit at home and hunker down and by comparison to them, theysa国际传媒檙e risking their health,sa国际传媒 Kim said.

sa国际传媒淎nd itsa国际传媒檚 not just the nurses and the doctors, itsa国际传媒檚 also the cleaners and people providing food and the first responders and the paramedics. Everyone is risking their lives for us and we just thought they needed to be honoured,sa国际传媒 she said.

The pandemic is especially close to home for the couple. Their 30-year-old son, a former MMA fighter who is otherwise healthy, contracted the virus and had been sick and in isolation for the last two weeks.

sa国际传媒淲e were so worriedsa国际传媒 this is an MMA fighter, strong and healthy, but was down on his back for two weeks,sa国际传媒 Jim said.

Kim said the song was easy to write because it came from a genuine place of gratitude. The couple is working with Vernon videographer C.J. Clayton, who they said will be putting the video together.

The couple posted a rough cut of the song on social media as well.

sa国际传媒淭he big ask from us now is for health care workers to send us their selfies. We need 300 pictures. We already have 50 from health care staff from New York, Germany, Edmonton, Nunavut and locally,sa国际传媒 she said.

sa国际传媒淭his isnsa国际传媒檛 just about Kelowna. This is about everybody. This is a global thing thatsa国际传媒檚 connecting us all.sa国际传媒

sa国际传媒淭he one positive thing about this pandemic is you realize how small the world is,sa国际传媒

If you would like to send your selfie to the Rhindresses, you can you can send it in an email.

If you know others who are giving back and helping those in need during this critical time, send us an email and let us know!

READ MORE: Penticton kinesiologist offers free workouts, healthy recipes during pandemic

READ MORE: B.C. Service aims to connect those in need with volunteers amid COVID-19 crisis


Twila Amato
Video journalist, Black Press Okanagan
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Twila Amato

About the Author: Twila Amato

Twila was a radio reporter based in northern Vancouver Island. She won the Jack Webster Student Journalism Award while at BCIT and received a degree in ancient and modern Greek history from McGill University.
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