MARY DIED

MARY DIED

She just turned 60 two weeks prior.  My baby sister.  Working as a CNA in a “luxury assistant living” facility, Zon Assisted Living in Melbourne, Florida, USA.  Mary was having trouble breathing through the N-95 mask she was required by the facility to wear on her long shifts due to covid.  Mary expressed to the nursing superviser she was having difficulty breathing, Mary had asthma which was flaring up due the the mask, the superviser informed Mary she had to wear the N-95 or quit.  Mary loved her work, her patients, her collegues, needed the income, so she continued to work.  Due to covid her shifts were longer with more patients to care for as staff was not showing up.

Mary was required to run a drill down the hallway to see how fast she would be able to repond to a patient emergency.  She ran the drill.  She collaposed at the end.  She coldn’t breathe.  Medical staff at the facility did not proved her with a nebulizer timely, did not give oxygen, they did not use a difibulater, just did compression cpr.  The directer who was at home was called by the staff,  she drove to the facility, she called 911, and by the time the emt’s arrived Mary was pulseless on the floor.

Due to the required N-95 mask and the lack of emergency trained life saving intervention at her place of employment Mary died.  Needlessly.  As per the CCD and OSHA, which govern workers conditions, N-95 masks were not required if there was underlying conditions.  Zon supervisors did not inform Mary of this.  Zon did not file a fatality report with OSHA as required.  They did not respond to inquires on how and why she died by her family, they did not file an incident report, they contributed nothing to her memorial, they stated they did not have cameras in the hallways. 

Florida is the only state in America that does not require accountabiliy under law for negligent wrongful deaths.

If N-95 masks were not required as a covid “prevention” Mary would be alive.  Instead we miss our Mary.  The pain of losing her overcomes us in powerful waves.  Every day.  Every night.