Touching

It's not a common order: a movie comes first and then the book is written. So begins the novelization of the screenplay or movie named Five Feet Apart. The story is a testament to the power of human touch. 

I happened to follow the same order this weekend, watching the movie with my daughter and finishing the novel the next day. 

Two teenagers, Stella and Will, met in a hospital where they received treatment for a genetic disorder of cystic fibrosis. A genetic defect in the protein called ion channel, spanning the cell membrane lining the lungs, causes thickened mucus. Through thick and thin, children and young adults with cystic fibrosis struggle to move air in and out of their lungs.

There turned out to be an extraordinary bond between these two teenagers with cystic fibrosis, one of them not eligible for lung transplant after harbouring a hardy bacterium Burkholderia cepacia. The other one, Stella, knew very well B. cepacia thrives best in saliva or phlegm. A cough travels six feet. That means Stella should keep a distance of five, if not six, feet from Will to keep herself clean and eligible for lung transplant. No saliva also means no kissing.

The "six-feet-at-all-times" rule reminds us the brutal social distancing as a result of the coronavirus not too long ago. That's simply defying the deepest connection of human touch.