In the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Clinaltec, there is a bell. It rings when a child finishes their cancer treatment, and for the families who hear it, it means exactly what it sounds like.
The gesture is simple and has become part of the unit's life: upon closing the last treatment cycle, the patient rings the bell. The patient does it, not the medical staff. Surrounding them are usually their family and the team that accompanied them for months.
The bell is like the cry for life, that is really what it means, considering that these are children who are fighting for it.
Dr. Luz Elena Botero — Pediatric intensive care physician, head of the Pediatric ICU at Clinaltec
Why a ritual matters inside a hospital
Childhood cancer treatment is measured in cycles, tests, and check-ups. It is a long process in which the end does not always have a visible date for the patient or their family. The bell gives a specific moment to that closure: it turns what would otherwise barely be a note in the medical record into something audible and shared.
For the care team, it serves another function. In a unit where staff emotional burnout is real, hearing the bell is a periodic reminder of why the work is done.
The event in the media
The bell ritual at Clinaltec was recorded by El Olfato.
This article was written by Clinaltec S.A.S. using its own information. The links lead to the original publications of each media outlet.
