This artwork, entitled “The Rescue”, is part of a collection of 5 pieces created within the scope of a project commemorating the palliative care service of the Portuguese Oncology Institute of Coimbra. The project, called “Cuid’arte”, was an invitation from this service that I accepted with immense honor, allowing me to merge my two worlds: my past as a nurse, especially in the palliative care field, and my present as an artist. It enables the merging of two purposes: creating art with meaning and shedding light on the true nature and importance of palliative care. This artwork follows a chronological order, although not mandatory and not always linear. This is the third piece of this “chronology”.

The artwork “The Rescue” depicts the moment when palliative care emerges as the helping hand that enables a person to stay afloat, alleviating and freeing them from what holds them down; intense physical and mental symptoms that drag them downwards. When these symptoms become the burden that confines and drags them into the abyss, stealing life from the remaining days, palliative care emerges as the light at the end of the tunnel; the rescuing hand. The focus shifts not on the quantity, but primarily on the “how” their days will be. It’s a powerful portrayal of the hope and relief that palliative care provides amidst the hardships of illness at this stage.