‘A smile can be very contagious’: 93-year-old veteran shares heartwarming poem from hospital
TORONTO - A 93-year-old Canadian hospital patient and military veteran went viral after reciting a warm and much-needed poem, titled, “A Smile Can Be Contagious.”
After Frank Davis was admitted to Parkwood Hospital in London, Ontario, for a broken hip and injured shoulder, a TikTok video of Davis emerged on April 4, with a message of positivity for a world in crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“A smile can be very contagious, you can catch it like the flu,” Davis recited.
@shannonmccluskie I think we all need to hear this😊-Its back! Lets keep this ##smilemovement going! ##foryou ##fyp ##smilepoem ##inspiration ##healthcare
♬ original sound - shannonmccluskie
Shannon McCluskie, Davis’ occupational therapy assistant, took the video and told the London Free Press that Davis first heard the poem from a fellow student in Nova Scotia when he was just a boy and it has bolstered him all through his life, even through the hardest of times.The poem talks about the infectious nature of smiles.
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“Someone smiled at me today, I smiled too,” said Davis, reciting the verse.
McCluskie told local media that Davis is the hospital’s resident poet, saying that he recited “so many beautiful poems I just had to ask for a video.
McCluskie added, “I am happy to share this with the world! Keep on smiling everyone, it’s contagious!”