'It was unreal': Health-care workers recount experience attending Leafs' playoff game in person

Toronto -

It was a disappointing result for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night. Nonetheless, health-care workers who attended the game in person says the experience was a step towards normalcy after more than a year of pandemic fears and restrictions.

Maha Hassan, who is an emergency department nurse at St. Michael's Hospital in downtown Toronto, was one of the 550 fully vaccinated frontline health-care workers who were selected via a lottery to attend Game 7 of the Leafs' playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena.

It was the first time since March 2020 that fans were welcomed into the arena for a Leafs game. Even though the 3-1 loss wasn't the result she was hoping for, Hassan told CTV's Your Morning that she still had a blast.

"It was unreal," Hassan said Tuesday.

"As soon as I entered the arena, you could just feel it. For the first time since March 2020, we had a live game and it was such an honor. You could just feel it in the stands. Everyone was coming together to celebrate such a positive experience," she added.

Dr. Rob Wu, who is the interim head of the internal medicine division at Toronto's University Health Network, was also in the stands on Monday night. He told CTV News Channel he was "super excited" when he found out on Monday afternoon that he had been selected to attend the game.

"Obviously not the outcome we wanted, but just to be able to be outside, out of my house, for a sporting event, it was amazing," he said on Tuesday.

It took some time getting used to being in a crowd again, Wu explained, having been unable to attend large events for the last 15 months.

"It's been a while since I've been around large crowds indoors. And so, part of me felt that this was a bit wrong, but knowing people were fully vaccinated and were still masked, it was reassuring. It felt (like) getting somewhat back to normal," Wu said.

The pandemic has been difficult for all health-care workers, especially Hassan. At the beginning of May, her own father was admitted to St. Michael's Hospital with COVID-19 while she was on shift.

"I feel like a lot of it is has been traumatizing and I haven't fully come to terms with the experience," said Hassan. "But it's really unmasking the inequities in our health-care system and unfortunately, vulnerable populations and racialized communities were the ones that got hit the worst by this pandemic."

Wu says he's "incredibly proud" of his colleagues for the work they've put in throughout the pandemic.

"It was a great way to be able to celebrate Game 7, but I also feel really lucky to be able to watch it to my colleagues," he said.

For Hassan, being able to cheer on the Leafs at Scotiabank Arena felt one step closer to a sense of normalcy.

"I almost feel like sports are a way of people coming together, and unfortunately because of the pandemic we haven't been able to do much of that," she said. "This game was very monumental because it was like the first step towards returning to normal, whatever that will look like after this pandemic is done."