WITH AMERICANS BECOMING
INCREASINGLY WEARY WITHOUT AN
END IN SIGHT.
>> Karen: TODAY, A PERSONAL
SFROER A HEALTH CARE WORKER.
PAULA TUTMAN INTRODUCES US TO A
COVID NURSE WHO BECAME A COVID
PATIENT AND HER FIGHT TO BECOME
A NURSE AGAIN.
PAULA?
>> Paula: WHEN I HEARD ABOUT
THIS NURSE, I KNEW I WANTED TO
MEET HER SIMPLY BECAUSE OF WHAT
SHE’S BEEN THROUGH AND IT
ENCAPSULATES WHAT’S GOING ON AND
WHAT’S AT STAKE FOR THIS WORKERS
ON THE FRONT LINE.
>> IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS A LOT OF SCRAMBLING BECAUSE WE
LOT OF SCRAMBLING BECAUSE WE
KNEW LITTLE ABOUT THE VIRUS IN
PARTICULAR.
>> Paula: AS WE WERE GETTING TO
KNOW AN UNWELCOME GUEST NAMED
COVID-19.
>> ONE DAY THE HALL WAS CLEAR
AND THEN THET NEXT WEEK IT WAS
EVERYTHING IN THE HALLWAYS, HOW
DO WE CONTAIN EVERYTHING AND
KEEP PATIENTS SAFE AND HOW DO WE
KEEP OURSELF SAFE?
>> Paula: MONIQUE, A NURSE AT
HENRY FORD HOSPITAL IN DETROIT
WAS ABOUT TO CONFRONT THE VIRUS
LITERALLY FACE-TO-FACE.
>> HE HAD GOWNS AND MASKS AND
THINGS LIKE THAT, BUT WE DID NOT
KNOW THAT WHEN WE WERE TAKING CARE OF THE PATIENTS WHILE
CARE OF THE PATIENTS WHILE
GIVING THE BREATHING TREATMENT,
WE WERE AEROSOLING THE VIRUS AND
IT BECAME AIRBORNE.
EVEN THOUGH WE WERE WEARING PROPER EQUIPMENT, I WAS EXPOSED
PROPER EQUIPMENT, I WAS EXPOSED
DURING A BREATHING TREATMENT, IN
ICU.
>> Paula: AND BECAME A PATIENT
HERSELF, INCHES FROM DEATH’S
DOOR.
A NEWLYWED OF BARELY 8 MONTHS AS SHE LAY DYING, SUFFOCATING IN
SHE LAY DYING, SUFFOCATING IN
HER OWN BODY ALONE WITH HER
FADING THOUGHTS.
>> SO MANY THINGS, AND WE’RE
TRYING TO START A FAMILY AND ALL
THOSE THINGS, AND ALL I COULD
THINK OF WAS, YOU KNOW, I’M NOT
GONNA MAKE IT BACK TO THAT IF I
DON’T FIGHT HARDER.
I DON’T MAKE IT BACK TO HIM, I
DON’T MAKE IT BACK TO FINISH
THOSE DREAMS, THAT WHOLE FEELING
OF SEPARATION FROM MY HUSBAND AT
THE TIME.
I JUST FELT LIKE I NEEDED TO GET
BACK TO HIM.
I COULDN’T LEAVE THIS WORLD AND
LEAVE HIM ALONE.
>> Paula: IT’S BEEN MORE THAN 5
MONTHS AND MONIQUE HAS
MIRACULOUSLY CHEATED DEATH AND
THE FOGGINESS OF COVID BRAIN, TO DO THE SIMPLE TASK OF WALKING,
DO THE SIMPLE TASK OF WALKING,
SHE HAS COME OUT THE VICTOR.
SHE HAS RETURNED TO WORK AND
RETAKEN HER PLACE AMONGST THE
HEROES WHO SAVED HER TO BECOME
ONE OF THEM AGAIN.
>> NOW EVERY TIME I GO THROUGH
THE DOORS, IT’S A SENSE OF
GRATEFULNESS, KNOWING THAT EVERY
TIME I GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO
TAKE A BREATH AND TAKE A STEP
FORWARD, IT’S JUST A BLESSING.
>> Paula: I CANNOT IMAGINE WHAT IT WAS LIKE FOR HER THE FIRST
IT WAS LIKE FOR HER THE FIRST
TIME SHE WALKED BACK IN THOSE
DOORS, BUT SHE’S ON THE MEND.
SHE’S JUST ONE OF THOUSANDS OF
TRUE HEROES.
>> Karen: NOW, PAULA, YOU
MENTIONED HER MASTERING WALKING
AGAIN.
IN TERMS OF LONG-TERM EFFECTS,
WHAT DOES SHE STRUGGLE WITH DAY
TO DAY, THINGS SHE HAS TO DO,
HOW DO THINGS STAND THERE?
>> Paula: A LOT OF IT WAS A
STRUGGLE.
SHE WAS ON A WALKER FOR A LONG
AMOUNT OF TIME AND NOW OFF THE
WALKER.
I THINK IT’S FAIR TO SAY SHE HAS
TO REBUILD WHO SHE IS PHYSICALLY
BECAUSE THIS DISEASE ATTACKS YOU
IN SO MANY WAYS THAT ARE
SIMPLY -- YOU CAN’T SIMPLY
PREPARE FOR THEM.
>> Karen: AND DON’T KNOW THE
LONG-TERM EFFECTS EITHER.
PAULA, THANK YOU FOR SHARING
THAT STORY.