‘Best and worst of humanity.’ Texas sisters join fight against coronavirus in New York.

During the coronavirus pandemic, nurses are about as essential as it gets.

Sometimes the fight against COVID-19 means leaving home, going to where they are needed most.

And in the United States, nowhere are nurses needed more than New York City. So sisters and Keller High graduates Angela Thomas and Lindsey Ackerman answered the call to help in New York hospitals.

“I am an ICU nurse, and serving the sickest of patients has always been a calling for me,” Ackerman said. “Knowing that there were fellow nurses and patients suffering because the hospitals were overwhelmed, going was a no-brainer for me.”

They heard through nursing peers about a company named Krucial Staffing that would be deploying nurses from around the country to New York to work and help alleviate the strain on the city’s healthcare system. They signed up on March 25 and were on a flight to New York City just two days later, serving for the next 27 days.

At home in the Metroplex, Thomas works full-time at the Lonestar Endoscopy Center and part-time with Wise Health Surgical Hospital while completing her master’s degree to become a nurse practitioner. Ackerman worked at Methodist Charlton Medical Center in Dallas before being deployed to New York and now will obtain her master’s degree to also become a nurse practitioner.

“New York is known as the city that never sleeps. We saw it during a time that was not the case,” Thomas said. “On our day off, we went to Times Square and it was a ghost town. A few people were out, but nothing like the normal Times Square. Business were closed and boarded up. Everyone walking on the street had a mask on.

“Inside the hospital, you could feel the tension — nurses overworked and tired, patients scared for their life, literally, and family members upset because they were banned from seeing their family members. Due to the virus, we saw the best and worst of humanity. It was encouraging to see nurses come together for the common goal of caring and healing.”

Ackerman was stationed at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, the most heavily affected hospital, where she helped COVID-19 patients. Meanwhile, Thomas was working in Queens with labor and delivery patients — some who had the coronavirus.

Ackerman said being in America’s hottest spot for COVID-19 was surreal.

“I had expectations because of what you see on social media and on TV, but nothing could have prepared me for my first shift at Elmhurst,” she said. “Every patient that I saw was fighting for their lives, and they were being cared for by doctors, nurses and support staff who had been sick themselves, or had loved ones who were sick. It was gut-wrenching.”

Their shifts began around 7:30 a.m. and were over around 7 p.m. They’d get back to the hotel around 8:30 p.m. for a quick dinner, shower, and rest — getting ready to do it all over again the next day.

“On the first day I heard a rapid response, or code blue, called at least every 15-30 minutes. Numerous times an hour there was a patient quickly deteriorating and needing quick intervention,” Thomas said.

“After about three weeks of being there, I started to hear the song ‘Here Comes the Sun’ by the Beatles paged overhead. I was very confused. No one knew what it meant. As the days past, we learned that every time the song was played overhead a patient with COVID-19 was being discharged.”

She said that while the battle rages on, that song blaring delivered a sense of promise to her.

“On my last day of work, I heard (the song) nine times. Over a period of a month, I went from hearing code blue/rapid response numerous times an hour to hearing “Here Comes the Sun” as patients with COVID-19 walked out of the hospital doors back into their lives. It was a beautiful picture,” Thomas said.

While the work was grueling and they saw the virus at its strength, Ackerman said special moments reinforced her hope that COVID-19 will be defeated.

One patient sticks in her mind. A man who was breathing through a tube recovered and was extubated, the first one she experienced while there.

“He had been there for three weeks, his family unable to see him. We got the pass code for his phone from his family and did a FaceTime call,” she said. “He cried, his family cried, we cried. It was so moving.

“These families go so many days without being able to see their loved ones, wondering what is going on, wondering if or when they will come home. This story shines so bright in my mind against much of the darkness I encountered.”

Both said if needed they would quickly go back, or to wherever else they are needed. But they have some advice for fellow Texans as the state reopens.

“Don’t take your health for granted. If you go back out, please take the necessary steps to keep those around you safe. We must come together and help one another during this time,” Thomas said.

“Be smart. Protect yourself and your loved ones,” Ackerman said. “We don’t want to be in the same situation as New York was a couple months ago.”