Patrick Dempsey Quoted an Iconic 'Grey's Anatomy' Line to Encourage Fans to Wear Masks
Grey's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey, who played Dr. Derek Shepherd on the ABC medical show, recently took to Instagram to post a photo promoting mask-wearing during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The actor quoted a famous line from his Grey's character in the caption, encouraging his followers to wear a mask "to save lives."
Fans flooded the comments with emotional reactions to the photo and caption, going wild over the actor's callback reference to his beloved character.
Leave it to Dr. Derek Shepherd to remind everyone to wear a mask in the best way!
Actor Patrick Dempsey, who played the fan-favorite Dr. Derek Shepherd — a.k.a. "McDreamy" — on the hit medical drama Grey's Anatomy, took to Instagram on Monday to share an important message about wearing masks during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But for many Grey's fans, the best part about his post wasn't the close-up photo of the star wearing a black-and-white checkered cloth mask — rather, it was the clever caption that referenced one of the most iconic lines from the beloved show!
"It’s a Beautiful Day to Save Lives," the 54-year-old star wrote alongside the photo, adding the hashtags "#WearAMask" "#COVID19" and "#YourActionsSaveLives."
As many Grey's viewers will know, the phrase "It's a beautiful day to save lives" references the iconic line that Dr. Shepherd says every time before performing surgery in the show. Needless to say, fans of Grey's Anatomy couldn't help but go wild over Patrick's post, flooding the comments with emotional reactions over the throwback reference to McDreamy — especially as the fan-favorite character eventually (spoiler alert!) met his death in the show in 2015, with the star deciding to exit the show after 11 years.
"THIS IS EVERYTHING," one fan commented. "Omg the caption," wrote another user, adding a crying face emoji. Wrote yet another fan in the comments: "Read the caption!!!!! My heart just broke again #goddamngreysanatomy."
Patrick's latest post isn't the first time he promoted preventative actions amid the coronavirus pandemic to his followers on Instagram. On Saturday, the actor shared a Politico video of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert and member of the White House coronavirus task force team, speaking on the importance of doing one's part to contain the continuing spread of the virus.
"Please, please listen to what he is saying," Patrick wrote in the caption of his post. "Take a few minutes to watch this and really pay attention. We can make this go away! We are all in this together. We can do this people, but we have to be mindful and support each other. Wear a mask please."
Of course, Patrick isn't the first Grey's Anatomy cast member to promote safe preventative measures during the COVID-19 outbreak. Back in April, fellow former Grey's star Eric Dane — who played Dr. Mark Sloan, a.k.a the "McSteamy" to Patrick's "McDreamy" — shared an Instagram post of the two actors standing atop a hillside as an example of social distancing, captioning the snapshot, "Blurry pic of how to hang out 6 feet apart."
Even beyond its cast members, the show itself has also pitched in on the continuing efforts to curb the spread of the virus. In late March, showrunners announced that Grey's was donating its on-set medical supplies to local hospitals and medical centers in need, with the helpful contribution coming during a time when healthcare workers were experiencing a dire shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE).
As for the dedicated fans of the show, it seems that all we have to do is listen to the wise words of McDreamy, and practice safe mask-wearing at all times when out in public. After all, in the words of our favorite doctor, "it's a beautiful day to save lives"!
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