TimesOC: Mariachis’ ‘Hand of God’ touches COVID-19 patient on ventilator

Good morning and welcome to the TimesOC newsletter. It’s Wednesday, Feb. 17.

We tend to celebrate the big medical achievements in the battle against COVID-19: vaccines, improved testing, better treatment protocols.

But sometimes victory is measured in smaller, more personal moments.

Take patient Joe Trejo, who has been on a ventilator for 10 days at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton. He’s unable to communicate with his wife, Patty, and their three sons.

“But on Monday, as a mariachi band played the couple’s favorite song in the parking lot and beamed it to them in the ICU via a smartphone,” write Kim Christiansen and Ifran Khan. “Joe responded — if ever so subtly.”

“I know he heard me, and I know he heard the music,” Patty said, referring to “La Mano de Dios” (“The Hand of God”) as rendered by Aurelio Reyes el Gallo de Chiapas, a trio of mariachis she hired.

“When I was talking to him, he actually talked a little bit and he opened his eyes and his body moved,” she said. “I started to pray even harder, and he opened his eyes again … I got to put my arms around him and [hold] his hand, and I got to kiss him.”

Patty and the couples’ sons have all survived bouts with the coronavirus. They are praying Joe, who works as a locksmith for a school district in Anaheim, pulls through as well.

Each day on a ventilator decreases his chance of survival.

“I know they say if he’s not off it after 10 days, the chances are slim,” Patty said. “But I say, “OK, it takes time to heal, and I’ve seen miracles. He will be our miracle.’”

Nurse Celina Mande, left, tries to connect an iPad so Joseph Trejo, on a ventilator, can hear a mariachi band arranged by his wife, Patty Trejo, center, playing “La mano de Dios” (The Hand of God), his favorite song, in the parking lot of St. Jude Medical Center on Monday in Fullerton.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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