BOSTON — Patti Betti spent hours making a mural picture perfect at her home in New Hampshire.
“I had it laid out on my living room floor and worked at it for a couple weeks on and off,” said Betti.
Betti made the painting to honor all the healthcare workers at Lahey Hospital in Burlington who are on the front lines fighting COVID-19. She even wrote “superheroes wear scrubs” on the 6-and-a-half foot by 4-and-a-half-foot mural.
She dropped-off the canvas painting at the hospital on Thursday and wished to remain anonymous. The hospital even tweeted out, “they don’t know who the artist is and boy, they’d like to find out.”
Turns out Betti only informed a security guard.
“I said, ‘Please don’t tell anybody just put it up and keep them guessing,’” said Betti.
But, word quickly got out and the hospital sent out another tweet saying a Good Samaritan clued them in on the mystery artist.
“I got a lot of texts last night from nurses saying, ‘You made our day, we had a terrible day,’" said Betti. “They’ve had a little bit of a difficult time the last week or two.”
Betti is no stranger at the Lahey Hospital.
She and her 5-year-old golden retriever, Zest, are part of the hospital’s therapy program and they do a lot of work in the intensive care unit.
“She does a lot of situations that are very dire," said Betti. "She has a natural ability to step-up when things are critical. They have called her to certain places when things are not good.”
Zest is Betti's 12th golden retriever and 3rd therapy dog and one of her best, but she said she’s itching to get back to work.
“Zest doesn’t like being unemployed, she likes her peeps and she gets treats and she walks in, she gets treats at this place at that place,” said Betti.
And this special place will always have a special painting honoring some very special workers.
“They hung it right at the entrance where the nurses are walking in, in the east lobby,” said Betti.
Betti said she hopes she and Zest can return to work as soon as it’s safely to do so. She’s made several other murals, including one that hangs in a building on the campus of the University of New Hampshire.
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