‘A smile can be very contagious’: 93-year-old veteran shares heartwarming poem from hospital

A 93-year-old Canadian hospital patient and military veteran went viral after reciting a warm and much-needed poem, titled, “A Smile Can Be Contagious.”

After Frank Davis was admitted to Parkwood Hospital in London, Ontario, for a broken hip and injured shoulder, a TikTok video of Davis emerged on April 4,  with a message of positivity for a world in crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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“A smile can be very contagious, you can catch it like the flu,” Davis recited.

Shannon McCluskie, Davis’ occupational therapy assistant, took the video and told the London Free Press that Davis first heard the poem from a fellow student in Nova Scotia when he was just a boy and it has bolstered him all through his life, even through the hardest of times.The poem talks about the infectious nature of smiles.

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“Someone smiled at me today, I smiled too,” said Davis, reciting the verse. 

McCluskie told local media that Davis is the hospital’s resident poet, saying that he recited “so many beautiful poems I just had to ask for a video. 

McCluskie added, “I am happy to share this with the world! Keep on smiling everyone, it’s contagious!”