Pat, you've told some really
compelling stories about
other people's journeys,
but now I want you to share your own.
What was it like for you?
What did you see?
What did you feel?
What did you walk away with
when you spent time in the ICU?
Well, it was interesting when we
went in it was so quiet that it
seemed like maybe nothing was going
to happen and the PR person who
was helping us get access said,
you know, this is probably not
going to be like Grey's Anatomy.
It's not a bunch of running around.
There is stuff happening,
but it may take awhile for you to really
see what's happening in and understand it.
Really, I think kind of the
next day it started to hit me.
Just sort of the heaviness of the
battle that's going on in that.
In both the ER and the ICU.
Uhm, I did want to follow up on that
because it also made me think of this
when medical fact when medical truth butts
up against people's personal beliefs.
Some of the patients who are in the ICU.
Where does that leave you as a journalist?
How do you go about kind of sorting
through those opposing views?
Well, I think for the
story that we told in Bend,
we weren't really trying to sort through
the views so much as to just state them.
Most of the people who are getting
really sick are not vaccinated and what
they're telling me at the hospital is
that most of those people regret that.
But then it's too late.
They have people asking for the
vaccination at the hospital.
Way too late you cannot get vaccinated
when you've got the thing you can get
vaccinated a couple weeks after all
the symptoms are gone if you survive.
Your stories have been riveting,
heartbreaking. I mean, there are so
many ways that we could describe it.
What kind of reaction have you gotten
from viewers about what they're seeing?
It's mostly been really positive,
and I think that.
You know, I'm just so thankful
that the doctors and nurses were
as open as they were because that,
I think, is the piece that has
really caught people's attention.
You know, Monica,
coming up and saying we have a patient
who's trying to dive right now.
I mean that that is very gripping.
It was very real.
It's one thing to say.
You know people are dying the hospital,
and to do a zoom interview with
a Doctor Who said boy yeah,
we fought for it and it was.
It was rough but we lost him.
It's another to be there as it's
happening and I think because of the
openness of Saint Charles they were
allowed us to come in and capture that.
And so because of that,
I think the audience is really.
Uhm, you know they can feel that,
and it's a place they've
not been allowed to go.
'cause we haven't been allowed to go to
it. I want you to leave us with the
final word and you can go in any
direction you want, including if
there's something that I should have
asked you but different, but didn't.
What would you like to say?
Uhm? Well, I'll say that before
I was somewhat on the fence about
people claiming their personal right
to not have something experimental
or whatever put into their body.
But this is this has moved
me solidly off the fence.
If you're not getting vaccinated,
you are making a huge, huge mistake.
You're trying to say that gravity
does not work if you get vaccinated,
you may still get sick.
It's true.
There are a lot of breakthrough cases,
especially with delta,
but the odds of you ending up in the ICU
and dying are so small that it's ridiculous.
Get the shots,
protect yourself and protect your community.
There are people in the community.
You need cancer surgeries and
all sorts of other surgeries
where they were stay at night or
two overnight in the hospital,
but can't get in because now
they're full of COVID patients
who did not get vaccinated.
It's a domino effect Pat.
Your reporting has been
powerful and eye opening.
I hope to a lot of people who
were in that unvaccinated camp.
Thank you so much.
We appreciate it.
Thank you, Brenda.