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A Nurse Helps a Woman FaceTime Her Dying Mother to Say Goodbye, Amazon Fires Worker Who Planned Coronavirus Strike; and More Americans Have Already Died From Coronavirus Than From 9/11 Attacks.
Because she wasn’t allowed to be in the same vicinity as her ailing 75-year-old mother, Michelle Bennett didn’t think she’d have a chance to say a final goodbye before she died.
Her mother, Carolann Christine Gann, fell victim to coronavirus and was nearing the end of her life.
“Not being able to be there and hold my mom’s hand, rub her head, tell her the things I wanted to say her. It was such a helpless feeling, I can just remember the days leading up feeling so frustrated and helpless and not being able to talk to her because she was not conscious during that time,” said Bennett to CNN.
Thankfully, a nurse at Swedish Issaquah Hospital in Washington state gave Michelle a chance to say goodbye to her mother before she passed away.
“I’m going to put the phone up to her face so you can tell her you love her and say your goodbyes,” said the nurse to Michelle. “She will not be alone, we will stay with her till the end.”
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Just ten minutes later, Michelle was able to speak to her mother over FaceTime.
“I love you very much,” said Michelle to her mother. “I forgive you, Mom, I love you. I know I didn’t get a chance to say it.
“Mom, it’s okay to pass on. It’s okay to go now.”
Within the hour, her mother passed. Michelle said the nurse was crying as the phone call ended.
“I know how difficult this is for them,” said Michelle. “I can’t imagine being on the front lines of that and having to go home every day and risk infection themselves, but then have the compassion and the empathy to be right there in that moment as if it was their own mother. That was one of the most amazing things I’ve experienced.”
With the advent of technology such as iPads and 5g cellular, more families may need to rely on it to help keep in close contact with their families during the coronavirus pandemic.
Amazon fired a Staten Island warehouse employee who organized a walkout on Monday. He was trying to gain better protection for workers against the coronavirus.
31-year-old Chris Smalls was a management assistant for Amazon. He told The Post that they fired him by phone on Monday.
“They pretty much retaliated against me for speaking out,” said Smalls. “I don’t know how they sleep at night.”
A spokeswoman from Amazon, Kristen Kish, confirmed the firing. She said they fired him because he violated social distancing guidelines. Apparently, he was ignoring the quarantine rules. He had been in contact with another sick employee. Reportedly, management told him to stay home.
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“Despite that instruction to stay home with pay, he came on site today, March 30, further putting the teams at risk. This is unacceptable and we have terminated his employment as a result of these multiple safety issues,” said Kristen Kish in a statement.
Smalls denied the reason Amazon gave for his termination.
“I put employees at risk? No, you guys did that. They do this to people in a pandemic,” said Smalls. “What am I supposed to do now?”
On September 11, terrorists killed 2,977 victims during the attack on the World Trade Center. As of March 31, the coronavirus has claimed the lives of 3,173 Americans and infected 164,359 total.
Experts expect many more Americans will die in the days ahead as a result of COVID-19. Hopefully, social distancing and staying at home whenever possible will help that number lessen over time.
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