Time Magazine is recognizing an essential worker responsible for treating the first coronavirus case at Wyckoff hospital in Brooklyn, New York.
Katie Couric detailed the experiences of Amy O’Sullivan, an 18-year veteran ER nurse, as she treated the first COVID-19 patient at the hospital, who later became the city’s first death in March.
A few days after her interaction with the hospital’s first COVID-19 patient, O’Sullivan began experiencing symptoms. She was intubated and spent four days on a ventilator.
O’Sullivan spent less than two weeks resting at home before she returned to work.
“Amy is just one of the millions of health care workers worldwide who risked everything to serve others. Many moved into hotels, spare bedrooms, even garages at the height of the pandemic to protect their families,” Couric wrote.
She added, “From doctors to janitors, the entire ecosystem that keeps a hospital functioning became a new kind of ground zero, their exhausted eyes conveying competence and compassion. There are two simple words for their heroism: Thank you.”
O’Sullivan told her story in a video featured on Time’s website.
“The last thing I just remember is the doctors saying, ‘We’re going to intubate you,’ and I remember thinking I just wanted to come back to work and be a nurse,” O’Sullivan said.
She added, “Too many people that I know died from this virus. What if something happens to me?”
O’Sullivan stressed she has accepted her responsibility as a nurse in the fight to combat the coronavirus.
“I should be jaded by now, but I’m just not. It’s just where I’m going to be. This is where I have to be. I’m meant to be here,” O’Sullivan said.
The number of coronavirus related deaths continues to climb across the nation.
At least 201,100 Americans have died as of Wednesday afternoon and more than 6,927,200 have been infected.
