Editorial: Thanking health care workers for what they do
There are COVID-19 images and stories that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. Among the most enduring will be those of the health care workers on the front lines.
Doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, paramedics and others wearing masks, protective shields, goggles and gloves that cover body parts but can't hide the empathy and love they have for the patients they treat. You can see it in their eyes.
Like firefighters battling a blaze and police officers chasing a violent criminal, these medical professionals rush toward danger every day, every shift. They are aware of the risks and take precautions to protect themselves and their families, but they also are dedicated to providing help and comfort to sick and dying patients. Many have become infected while treating others.
They are heroes working long shifts at Ground Zero in the fight against a disease that has infected some 40,000 Illinoisans and killed more than 1,800. And, those numbers continue to grow. It is staggering how it has altered our way of life in ways that were unimaginable only a couple of months ago and has left most of us uncertain about what's ahead.
But health care workers know their mission and they embrace it. Some have come out of retirement to help.
They have stories of triumph, such as Dr. Halleh Akbarnia, who told us in a Facebook post about treating a man she called Mr. C at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville.
"I introduced myself. 'I'm Dr. Akbarnia, Mr. C. I was the last person you saw in the ER. You told me you trusted us to get you to this side. Looks like you did just fine.' He started to cry. He said, 'I remember your eyes.' And I started to cry. What he didn't know is that, at that moment, I realized that we do what we do exactly for people like him, for moments like these. His strength, his kindness, his calming words to me meant everything."
They have tragic stories of watching patients die alone.
"I had a nurse, wasn't even assigned to that patient, but she knew that the person was not doing well and was probably in their last moments of their life," Theresa Vasquez, a nurse at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital, told our Katlyn Smith. "And, she just voluntarily went in and sat with the patient during that time."
And, they live it 24 hours a day.
"I go home, and I still think about the people there at work - the nurses who are working, the patients who are really sick, the patients who I wonder if they're going to be there when I get back," Letty Kelley, a nurse at Northwestern Delnor Hospital in Geneva, told our Lauren Rohr. "Unfortunately, I'm not able to turn it off."
To all of them, thank you for all you have done and all you will do in the weeks ahead.