A frontline New York City surgeon has penned a heartbreaking message to her young children in case she dies from the disease she has worke...
A frontline New York City surgeon has penned a heartbreaking message to her young children in case she dies from the disease she has worked around the clock to battle.
New York City pediatric surgeon Cornelia Griggs posted an image of herself wearing a regular face mask, makeshift protective equipment covering her head, and an open neck medical gown on Twitter yesterday.
She captioned the image: 'My babies are too young to read this now. And they’d barely recognize me in my gear. But if they lose me to COVID I want them to know Mommy tried really hard to do her job.'
Accompanied with the tweet was the #GetMePPE hashtag, which medical professionals are using to demand proper protective clothing from the government so they can battle the coronavirus.
New York City doctor Cornelia Griggs (pictured) said she wanted her 'babies' to know she 'tried really hard to do her job' if she dies from COVID-19
Griggs can be seen in another Twitter post, without proper PPE, while at a frontline hospital in the battle against the coronavirus
Griggs, pictured at a previous posting in 2018 in Boston, accompanied her tweet with the #GetMePPE hashtag
At the time of writing, the post had 7.9k comments, almost 98k shares and 500k likes.
The heart-rending tweet comes as cases and deaths from the coronavirus in New York pummel both city and state. In New York State, 59,568 cases have been recorded, with at least 1,126 deaths. Of those cases, 33,700 were within the five boroughs, as were 776 of the fatal victims.
Twitter users immediately hailed Griggs a hero.
One user said: 'To Cornelia's babies when they are old enough to understand. There are millions of us who are eternally grateful for your mother's strength and dedication under fire. Your mother is what making a contribution is all about. Be proud of her.'
A medical worker wearing protective clothing pushes a stretcher outside the Elmhurst Hospital Center in the Queens borough of New York, U.S., on Thursday. New York City is at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, putting historic pressure on a world-renowned healthcare system as the number of confirmed cases in the area grows exponentially
Another added: 'Your post choked me up. God bless you and protect you. I hope you receive the PPEs needed. Thank you for your work. Your children will be proud of you and may you live a long life and feel it! Thank you!'
Some on Twitter used the post as an opportunity to blast the government's response to the covid-19 pandemic.
'Broken heartThis is not a sacrifice you should have to make in the richest country in the world. I’m so sorry America is letting you down and thank you so much for the lifesaving work you do,' tweeted @EvaMcGregor.
Last week it was reported that an employee at a New York City hospital where nurses were forced to wear garbage bags as gowns died of the disease.
Kious Kelly, 48, died at Mount Sinai West hospital in Manhattan last Tuesday night, a week after he was admitted upon testing positive for coronavirus, according to the New York Post.
A shocking photo posted to Facebook shows three nurses at Mount Sinai West wearing black garbage bags as makeshift protective gowns
A shocking photo posted to Facebook showed three nurses at Mount Sinai West wearing black garbage bags as makeshift protective gowns.
President Trump's response and lack of preparation for the pandemic has been widely criticised and the administration is facing questions about whether the United States has enough hospital beds and supplies to treat those infected.
A 100-page government document, issued earlier this month and reported on by The New York Times, warned the pandemic will last 18 months or more, could come in several waves and cause critical shortages of medicines, equipment, and staff.
'Shortages of products may occur, impacting health care, emergency services, and other elements of critical infrastructure,' the plan warned.
'This includes potentially critical shortages of diagnostics, medical supplies (including PPE and pharmaceuticals), and staffing in some locations.'
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