Alice Mariette, Coco in hospital (DOCO 2022)

In 2020 my then 72yr old father suffered a mild stroke in the middle of the year. It came as a shock to us all, but as it was mild it appeared to be just a close call. As it turns out, it was more a warning sign. A few months later a routine test showed my dad's heart was functioning at just 10% - he had advanced heart failure. Straight into the hospital he went and within a couple of days he was undergoing a triple bypass open heart surgery. It was an incredibly stressful and scary time and I think we all honestly thought he may not make it. Luckily the surgery went well, although it did have its hiccups and took much longer than expected. Afterwards I visited my dad daily in the ICU and the experience was incredibly confronting for me, particularly in the first few visits when he was hooked up to a million machines and tubes and he could barely move. I found myself documenting the week, as it helped me process it all and also helped me look for the light in the darkness. These are just a few photos from that time.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.