Another death

My dad is yet another victim of President Donald Trump’ s mis management and denial of the pandemic that continues to ravage our nation. The president’ s words ,“This is a hoax” and it would “magically disappear” was spread on certain news outlets but as our family has painfully experienced this virus is not a hoax.

Frank Luca died on Sept. 2, after battling the virus and on a ventilator for 33 days at UM Baltimore Washington Medical Center. He was the rock of our family, a newly retired 76 year old who had just moved to Crofton to be near his kids and grandchildren.

In addition to asking readers to seriously consider who they vote for in this election, I wanted to celebrate the heroes who cared for my dad in the ICU day and night for 36 days total. His amazing team consisted of Dr. Jason Jeffrey Heavner, Dr. Faith M. Armstrong, Dr. Peace, nurses, PAs and the most amazing, compassionate palliative care nurse, Amy Holstege.

We witnessed this team through shifts, gearing up to do battle with this virus with exhausted faces but never once did we feel like a burden. They answered our questions through iPad and phone calls, helped us to make sense of daily blood work and oxygen/saturation levels, explaining what it meant for my dad to be placed in prone/ supine position and finally guiding us to realize his quality of life if he survived would not be acceptable.

My dad lost the battle, he was not as fortunate as our president to be given non-approved FDA experimental medications. Now he says he’s “cured” and “don’t be afraid of this virus.”

Stop lying to us Mr. President, stop minimizing this virus, stop mocking people who wear masks and social distance when science says it stops the spread. Stop killing us!

KHRISTINE SMITH Severna Park