Hospital dedicates COVID-19 memorial garden.
STAMFORD — One year ago marks one of bleakest days in recent Stamford history.
It was on April 16, 2020, Stamford Hospital witnessed the most COVID-19 cases in a single day, with 151 patients reported to be battling the debilitating virus.
That day, the city also lost a local pioneer in Jack Bryant, a longtime NAACP and Board of Education member known for his work to advance opportunities for young people of color in the city, who died two weeks after contracting the coronavirus.
Since last March, a total of 295 Stamford residents have died in the pandemic, and another 14,834 have tested positive for the virus, as of Wednesday afternoon.
Dr. Michael Perry, chair of infectious diseases for Stamford Health, called the past year “one of the most extraordinary challenges” ever faced by the hospital, its staff and the Stamford community as a whole.
“Those dark days from last spring represent a period of time that will live in our minds for the rest of our lives, and they are also ones that we are glad to have moved on from,” Dr. Rohit Bhalla, senior vice president of Clinical Affairs & Quality at Stamford Hospital, said during an “afternoon of remembrance” held outside the hospital Friday.
The event was part of the hospital’s efforts to commemorate those like Bryant who were lost to the pandemic, those fighting on the front lines and those still dealing with its long-reaching consequences.
As a part of its tribute, Stamford Hospital unveiled a new memorial garden planted in their honor.
The garden sits just outside Stamford Health’s Emergency Department, where thousands fought the coronavirus over the past year. At the garden’s center stands a budding cherry blossom tree surrounded by a colorful array of tulips, hydrangeas, pansies and hyacinths, and a plaque reading “In honor of all those who fought, lost, cared.”
“May this cherry blossom tree be a living memorial to those who lost their lives to COVID-19, and to those who survived. May it remind all Stamford Health employees of their compassion and dedication in the face of so much difficulty. And may this tree be a living reminder that hope exists and we can find it in each other and all the small acts of kindness we see and do every day,” the Rev. Rebecca Sala said at a ceremony Friday afternoon.
Standing before the newly unveiled garden, Stamford Health CEO Kathleen Silard recounted the story of a 30-year-old COVID-19 patient that has stuck with her throughout the pandemic.
Silard said the man began to show symptoms last spring around the same time that his wife gave birth to their baby.
“He isolated himself, and he actually never got to spend time with his newborn and his wife. He knew he needed to protect them. He got sick, came to hospital, got critically ill and ultimately succumbed to his illness,” she said.
And there are countless more stories like this, Silard said, each one belonging to a father, a mother, a brother or a sister, who was taken too soon.
“These losses are not just statistics ... they’re real people, who made real contributions to our city, to our state, to our country,” Mayor David Martin said.
But there may at last be a light at the end of the tunnel, the mayor said.
As of Friday, more than 85,000 vaccines have been administered by Stamford Health, according to Silard.
With those vaccines comes the hope of a “reawakening” and a return to the way things once were, Martin said
“As we come to this spring, our hope of reawakening is here with us,” he said