Teen artist has created 1200 artistic memorials to honor people who died from COVID-19

KAVU-TV- Hannah E. Ernst lost her grandfather to COVID-19 last May. The 16-year-old now creates artwork using photos of loved ones who died from COVID-19. She said victims of COVID-19 are not just a number and explains on her Facebook page why it’s important to honor the many lives lost.

“It’s both touching and heartbreaking hearing each and every person’s story because although they have the unfortunate commonality of losing their battle to COVID-19, each story of a loved one lost is different and unique,” said Ernst. “It just shows that each person that contributes to the devastating toll of those lost was an individual with plans and goals and dreams for the future. And as for the families they leave behind that I speak to, there’s a sense of sadness and almost reassurance as we’re now there for one another, knowing what the other went through in one way or another.”

More than 530,000 people have died due to COVID-19 in the U.S.