Hearse Driver: Stories of Crowded Morgues Are True
- 2.11.2021, 19:06
A resident of Baranavichy spoke about the new wave of coronavirus.
Dzmitry Chykhinski is 22 years old, four of which he works as a hearse driver. Intex-press reports on how someone else's grief changed his life, that he tells his daughter about his work and whose funeral is still in front of his eyes.
"I still remember the first funeral"
I came to the profession thanks to my dad, who also works in this field. A couple of times, when he needed help, he took me with him on a trip, and after a while, I decided to try my hand at being a hearse driver. One of the organizations in the city just needed employees.
It was difficult to get used to this job at first. After all, it's not easy to go to the factory, here you are dealing with the death, emotions, and grief of people.
I still remember "my" first funeral. At that time I was 18 years old, we were organizing the funeral of one grandmother. We did our job, I came home, went to bed, but I couldn't sleep: she was right in front of my eyes. And then, in absolute silence, there was a loud bang. It was a cat, which had just jumped into the room through an open window (I was living in a private house at the time), but I was scared out of my wits!
What to hide, at first I avoided the morgues - I was afraid. The atmosphere of death, dead people ... I was not ready for the fact that I would see such a number of the dead, so at first, when I had to go to the morgue to pick up the dead, even the desire to smoke disappeared. But over time, of course, I got used to it.
"You start to appreciate life more"
This job is not for everyone. They can call absolutely at any time of the day or night, you need to be prepared for this. It happens that you come home, sleep for a couple of hours, and then go again.
Our team of four provides absolutely all types of services. The organization process looks something like this: a person who needs help in organizing the funeral calls us, we go to the place, collect the documents necessary for the burial, and take the deceased to the morgue, where they dress and wash him. Then we take the coffin to the ritual hall or to the house where the person lived. We make an agreement with the priest about the funeral service, take the deceased to the cemetery, and bury him.
There are times when it is really difficult emotionally. It is very painful when you have to bury children. At such moments, tears are welling up in my eyes. But I try to treat my work with a cool head because hysterics and nervous breakdowns of relatives of the deceased are a frequent occurrence. During parting, I try to support my relatives, although I understand that the person is no longer there, and words cannot help here.
Of course, when you work in this field, your view of life changes a lot. You start to appreciate life more, every moment of it, and you try to spend more time with your family and friends.
"When my daughter asks what I was doing, I tell her: I was digging a hole"
In Baranavichy, there is a lot of competition in the field of funeral services, so I do not even think of starting a business. The only drawback in my work is a busy schedule. Otherwise, everything suits me.
I am at work and I am at home - these are two different people. Jokes and humor are inappropriate at my work, I am always serious and cold-blooded, I try to hide my own emotions when relatives cry from the pain of loss.
But at home, I can afford to relax and unwind. The time I spend with my family is the best way to replenish my strength.
Of course, I don't tell my daughter that I bury people. She's still little; she only will be four years old soon. But when she asks what I was doing, I say: "I was digging a hole."
"An incredibly difficult time for everyone"
Now, due to the pandemic, there is much more work. And everyone who is associated with the sphere of funeral services is well aware of how serious everything is. If during the first wave of coronavirus, mainly elderly people died, today the situation looks just terrible: many young people from 30 to 40 years old are dying, this cannot but frighten.
The stories that the morgues are packed with people are true. If earlier in the Rusina cemetery, one to five people were buried a day, now there may be 18 burials. And this is without taking into account the area.
I understand that now is an incredibly difficult time for everyone. But if someone has doubts about the viral disease that has taken over the planet, I hasten to dispel them: there is a problem, and it is huge.