He 'Put His Life On Hold' To Care For Patients: Chicago Hero

CHICAGO — Fred Rogers told a story on his children's show Mr. Roger's Neighborhood about being scared as a child when he saw something upsetting on the news. "My mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping,'" he told his audience. Though we're now living through an unprecedented health crisis, at Patch, we want to help you look for the helpers in your own community, so we've launched an initiative to recognize these everyday heroes.

This submission comes from April Blair, who nominated her son, David Blair, an ICU nurse at a small, lower-income hospital.

"He could work in any ICU in any hospital, but he chooses to work in a place that goes without because these patients really need care," Blair said of her son.

Here's what else she wrote:

I've watched him put his life on hold to take care of these patients who are so, so sick. He's been working a lot of overtime, going without sleep and missing meals. He picked up an extra shift today even though he desperately needs some rest. He has taking care of a Covid patient who is going downhill fast and he doesn't want him to be alone He helped the patient call their family member knowing the patient would be going on a ventilator soon. The patient as scared and asked my son if they were going to die? My son didn't want to lie but also didn't want to scare them . So he decided to pick up an extra shift so he can be with the patient. He works at a low income hospital and they never have enough supplies and their hospital is older and doesn't have a lot of basic things that most hospitals have. He could work at one of the newer hospitals that has some of the bells and whistles but feels like this community really needs him. This hospital is in an area that doesn't get the meals delivered for workers in the front line or have the car parades, honking their horns to show support. But yet they are doing really hard work with limited supplies and very little sleep. I am so in awe of the great job my son and his co-workers are doing !!!

Do you have a local hero you would like us to know about? Share their story here.

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