Dr. Tahsin Khrisat, 66, of Brescia, Italy, died on March 22, 2020 of Covid-19. He was as an Emergency Room physician. The Palestinian from Jordan worked in Brescia, one of the worst-hit cities in the region of Lombardy.
âHe had lost his wife a few years ago, and suffered because of that,â Federica Maestri, Khrisatâs former colleague, told Al Jazeera.
She said the pain of the epidemic, âinstead of closing him in, opened him to a new form of sensibility and empathy towards others.â
He was kind, compassionate, funny and, as an ER doctor, loved sharing stories about his childhood in Amman during rare breaks in long night shifts.
He later opened his own private clinic. âAlmost every day, Tahsin would send good morning or encouragement messages to his friends and patients, to remind them of his presence in case of need. It was his way of saying, âIâll always be there for youâ,â Maestri said.
In the early days of the pandemic, he was infected by a patient. âWe used a Facebook Live feature to give relatives both in Italy and Jordan a sense of normality while grieving in such a painful context,â Raisa Labaran, spokeswoman of the Islamic Cultural Center of Brescia, told Al Jazeera.
His pre-existing heart condition made him more vulnerable to the virus. He died on March 22.
Only the imam and employees of a local Muslim funeral home were allowed to attend the burial. Khrisatâs body now rests in the Muslim section of Bresciaâs public cemetery.