The heroes who work among us
The sign tells you everything you need to know.
It adorns the entrance to Mercy Fitzerald in Darby Borough and proclaims simply: “Heroes Work Here.”
That has been true since the nation – and the globe, really – has been plunged into mortal combat against a faceless, ruthless killer, the novel coronavirus and the COVID-19 illness that accompanies it.
They are doing hand-to-hand combat against the virus, putting their lives on the line in the efforts to contain the pandemic and spare the rest of us from coming face-to-face with this clear and present danger.
In many cases, they have done so even as the odds have been stacked against them. They have stood their place, despite often not having the proper personal protective equipment. They have worked marathon shifts. All as part of their jobs.
They were the front lines in the battle against coronavirus.
It has not been a war without casualties.
We sadly learned that again this week with the news that a Fitzgerald Mercy paramedic succumbed to complications from COVID-19.
Kevin Bundy was 33 old.
He was a full-time paramedic at the Darby Borough institution, and also worked part-time at Crozer-Chester Medical Center.
Bundy was not showing any symptoms of COVID-19 when he tested positive for the coronavirus. He was hospitalized April 7.
His passing rightfully is being marked as being in the line
years of duty.
“The entire Mercy Fitzgerald family is deeply saddened by the passing of Kevin Bundy, a two-year member of our paramedic team, at our hospital last evening,” Mercy Catholic Medical Center President Chris Cullom wrote in an email Monday. “As a first responder, he demonstrated bravery and compassion with every community member he served. Moreover, we are eternally grateful for all those on the front line putting themselves in harm’s way to help protect us all.”
His death again underscored the danger first responders and those working in the healthcare field face every day during this pandemic. Actually, it only underscores what they achieve every day, but it seems more acute since this illness broke out, killing thousands and sickening even more.
“Paramedic Kevin Bundy served the residents of Delaware
County with honor and dignity during this COVID-19 Crisis,” said Mark Egan, Delaware County president of the Emergency Health Service Council. “He was on the front lines and gave 100 percent each and every shift. Kevin had a heart of gold and big smile. He will be missed by all of us.
“He helped many during his short career,” Egan said Sunday evening. “Tonight the bright smile that he always wore like a badge of honor has been dimmed.”
Tim Boyce is the head of the Delaware County Emergency Services. He, probably more than most, know the sacrifice – and the price – these workers face every day.
“He represents community members who are serving in their neighborhood,” Boyce said of Bundy.
They man the ambulances and fire trucks. They are the faces in those police cars. Today they are the visages behind those masks, working every day in hospitals and doctors offices.
They are working marathon shifts, sometimes as much as 16 hours at a time, all with the knowledge that they will be getting a view of this disease that few want or would ever seek out. And they keep coming back day after day.
They did not seek out this disease, but they find themselves in the thick of the battle against it.
They find themselves separated from family and friends. While we all are utilizing social distancing as a method of flattening the curve in the war against the coronavirus, they are seeing up close and personal.
In many areas, residents have offered their thanks in different ways. Some fire and police departments have held impromptu drive-bys during shift changes at their local hospitals, sirens wailing and lights flashing.
In New York City, people have started standing on stoops and balconies, banging pots and pans and clapping furiously to mark the shift change at many of their besieged local hospitals. The sign got it right.
They are out heroes.
Kevin Bundy was them.
We salute him for his service – and his sacrifice.
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