Nurse Mark Raymond Mendoza was supposed to leave for work in a government hospital when he was assigned to do swab testing of two physicians for COVID-19.
It was during March 2020, the start of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown in the country.
Mendoza decided to do the nasopharyngeal test by himself and later on met internist 36-year-old Dian Rombaoa.
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Two days after that first meeting, he contacted her to say that she had tested negative for COVID-19.
Mendoza told the Inquirer the challenges and journey they had to go through with their newfound love.
“Here are two people who found love during this pandemic, so I guess it still wasn’t all bad,” he said.
The two said that they are not rushing things but they added that the pandemic helped them realized about life uncertainties.
“You don’t have full control. So you have to make the most of it,” he said.
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They became a couple in May and he proposed to Diane in June.
“I pretended to be having chest pain as I clutched the ring in one hand. I think I pulled it off, except that the waiter, who knew about my plan, was smiling at us,” he recalled.
The two said they know the risk of their work.
“But we took the oath. If we get scared, who else would do what we should be doing?” he said. (TDT)
