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A spirit that is not afraid

EAMC holds remembrance for COVID patients

<p>There have been 217 deaths due to COVID-19 in Lee County. Staff gathered at East Alabama Medical Center to remember their lives on on Wednesday, March 24, &nbsp;2021, in Opelika, Ala.</p>

There have been 217 deaths due to COVID-19 in Lee County. Staff gathered at East Alabama Medical Center to remember their lives on on Wednesday, March 24,  2021, in Opelika, Ala.

On Wednesday, East Alabama Medical Center held an “Evening of Remembrance, Healing and Hope” to honor both those who died of COVID-19 and those who recovered. Since Lee County saw its first COVID case in March 2020, there have been over 1,600 patients in the community and 217 deaths.

EAMC nurse Courtney Sutton said that Intensive Care Unit staff have bonded through the work of the past year. Shared tears and held hands were constants. Out of 344 admissions into the COVID ICU, 134 patients died, with the majority being attributed to COVID.

“I would not be true to myself or any other ICU nurse if I tried to make this speech all sunshine and rainbows,” Sutton said. “Being in critical care, we deal a lot with death and dying, stressful situations [and] difficult patients … [but] we have not had this kind of complicated before, the kind where your chances of dying are greater than your chances of living regardless of your age.”

Nurses used indescribable amounts of medications since bodies trouble to function when they are incredibly sick, Sutton said. Putting patients on intravenous drips was commonplace upon intake into the COVID ICU.

“As nurses in the ICU, we’re trained to try to save a life, and when we can’t, we do all that we can to make passing from this life bearable without pain or struggle,” Sutton said. “In the beginning, as a patient was dying, we could be the only ones present with them. We did what we could, and that was pray. We stood, arm in arm, praying. We prayed for the patient to have peace, free from struggle and pain. We prayed for their family, that they knew that their loved one was not alone in that time.”

Sutton said that nurses could not take the place of family during a patient’s final moments, but they were there so that they were not alone.

EAMC respiratory therapist Wendy Morgan said that many respiratory therapists were initially skeptical of a dangerous respiratory virus, but those feelings were quickly replaced with concern and uncertainty.

“We knew that the only way we could save as many lives as possible would be to educate ourselves,” Morgan said. “Luckily, at [East Alabama Medical Center], you don’t have to look far to educate ourselves. Our hospitalists and our infectious disease team are second-to-none. We have the finest pharmacists, nurses, respiratory therapists and multi-care techs that you can find anywhere.”

Respiratory therapists learned new ways to ventilate as well as new ways to oxygenate patients, allowing the virus to run its course.

“Every small success meant another life we could save,” Morgan said. “When all hope was gone and we realized another sweet soul transitioned from this world to the next, we turned to the comfort and the dignity of our patients. We held their hands, we talked, we sang, we prayed, and when their journey was complete, we cried. We cried for work left undone on Earth and a life lost too soon.”

In July, Lee County Commissioner Johnny Lawrence died of COVID-19. Lawrence served in Auburn’s fire department for 30 years and the Lee County Commission for 18 years.

“2020 left scars on each of us,” said Maggie Lawrence. “On some of us, they were not scars, they are open, gaping wounds on our souls that are not visible in the eyes of others. That is me; that is my daughter. I know this is where some of you are as well. You have spent the last year giving your all, caring for those people that COVID has ravaged. For every victory of sending a patient home to their family, there are the defeats of losing a patient to a disease that you are still learning to battle.”

Lawrence said she believes that everyone involved in the care of her husband tried their best to return him home to his family.

“Hear Johnny through me: ‘Never doubt the good that you are doing,’” Lawrence said. “'Never doubt your skills. Take care of you and your spirit. Reach out and find someone to talk with.’ Johnny would say that this is a challenge you should not and must not take alone.”

Dr. Ricardo Maldonado, infectious disease physician at EAMC, has been dealing with and thinking about COVID-19 every day for the past year.

“Somebody asked me if I was truly trained in medical school for this,” Maldonado said. “I said, ‘No. Nobody trained me for this in medical school, residency or fellowship. I’ve been training for this all my life.’”

COVID-19 has tested Maldonado both as a physician and as a human being, he said.

“COVID-19 has worn me down to my knees many times,” Maldonado said. “COVID-19 has killed my patients in a way no other illness has in my thirty-something-year career.”

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Maldonado thanked the hospital for allowing him to try unproven treatments. They allowed him to save more lives.

“I celebrated every life we saved because I knew, the next day, I would be mourning another death,” Maldonado said.

Maldonado has been absent from home frequently throughout the past year, but he does not need to apologize to his children, he said. They understand the work he is doing.

“Some of our patients fought hard and long, and we fought hard and long for them, but at times, we still lost them,” Maldonado said. “That really hit me. For those who lost their lives, I want [their families] to know that I will never forget them. I remember every single one of them, and forever will.”

Maldonado said he will use their memories as a reminder to be a better human being. He will work to train young medical professionals. COVID-19 has changed his life forever and he wants to change in a positive way.

Maldonado’s story is not unique, he said. It is the story of frontline workers across the world who have been fighting the virus for over a year.

Both Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller and Auburn Mayor Ron Anders spoke, both to the perseverance of those fighting on the front lines and to the support seen throughout the community.

“Thank you, EAMC, for setting up a community testing site before you ever received your first COVID patient,” Fuller said.

Fuller was also thankful for the hospital’s COVID phone hotline, 528-SICK, and the press conferences that kept the community updated while encouraging safe practices.

“Tonight, as we reflect on what has happened in the past 12 months, we will never forget our doctors, our nurses, our respiratory therapists; [we will not forget] everybody that met a sick person that came in that door and how they made us feel.”

Anders tested positive for COVID-19 in January. He recovered after quarantining for multiple weeks.

Anders said he was proud of both Chambers of Commerce and the local restaurants that delivered food to the hospital every day, keeping patients and staff fed. He was also proud of everyone who parked at the top of the hospital’s parking deck every day and night to cheer on the hospital workers working long shifts.

State Senator Randy Price was a COVID patient at EAMC. He considers himself fortunate for having survived, though it was not without a fight.

“Just a year ago, regardless of our age, we were robbed of our innocence,” Price said. “All of a sudden, we became prisoners in our own homes. Computers because our classrooms. Kitchen tables [became] our offices. Days became weeks and we wondered when it would end, but little did we know, it was just the beginning.”

While in the hospital, Price saw the top level of the parking deck as a place of prayer and community strength. It supported patients and hospital staff alike.

“When I was released from this hospital, I joined them,” Price said. “I cannot tell you the emotions I felt the first time I stood on top of that deck and I looked at this hospital, when I realized what miracles that were taking place inside this building.”

After his speech, Price presented a resolution thanking the hospital staff. He will present it to the Alabama State Senate in the future.

After all had been said, families and friends lit candles, both in remembrance of those who died and in celebration of those who survived.


Charlie Ramo | Content Editor

Charlie Ramo, junior in aerospace engineering, is the content editor of The Auburn Plainsman.

@byCharlieRamo


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