Read more from Author Melissa Galbraith here: https://globelivemedia.com/author/melissa-galbraith/
It was called Betty Grier Gallaher and had 78 years. This nurse died on January 10 from the coronavirus disease at Coosa Valley Medical Center in Alabama, he same center where she had worked as an emergency nurse for 43 years.
Despite the fact that his colleagues and family warned him, Betty wanted to continue working at the hospital to help those sick with COVID-19 and their colleagues despite being of retirement age. She wanted to delay the end of her working life to continue working at the hospital.
She passed away the day before her birthday
Betty, she would have turned 79 on January 11, curiously a day after dying, she enjoyed night shifts as she loved mentoring younger nurses after her 50 years of experience in emergency rooms. One of her companions, Nikki Jo Hatten, described her as “The cure for an anxiety attack”, explained for the CNN.
The protagonist of this story only spent two days at home when the situation in the United States began to deteriorate. Jo Hatten also told the media about Betty’s performance when the coronavirus began to rampage in the United States: “He couldn’t bear it. He missed coming to work. That’s what he lived for.” said.
He had promised his children that he would quit work when he recovered
It was on December 19 when Betty began to feel ill, although at no time did he think it would be the coronavirus. He thought it was just exhaustion from hard work at the hospital. But it was the next day, when they performed the test, that knew he was positive for coronavirus.
She spent the illness at home, did not want to be transferred to the hospital and even assured one of his sons that he would retire from the profession once he had recovered from COVID-19. But Betty’s situation started to get worse and she finally had to be admitted. Hatten told CNN: “The day she passed away, almost all of our ER personnel went and filled that room.”
“She knew how to live helping others”
“It wasn’t the way we wanted her to go. She was the glue of our ER, or the ER matriarch. We felt like we had lost our mother.”says Betty’s partner.
“There was only one way she knew how to live, and that was to help others,” he said. I hope I can say that I lived my life the way I wanted to live it, like her “, Hatten concluded for CNN.
From the Coosa Valley Medical Center have said goodbye to Betty with a nice message on their official Facebook page: “The Mrs. Betty always had a smile on her face and was our cheerleader. She was a nurse. She embodied our charge to care for patients: mind, body and spirit. He was always kind and cared deeply for his patients. We mourn his loss and celebrate his life. We extend our condolences to his family. “