Following news coverage of the coronavirus, I came across stories of healthcare workers who had died from COVID-19. I wanted to help share their stories, and help commemorate these fallen heroes.
I tried to capture the spiritual movement of these healthcare workers in mist portraits, and then printed them on long Kozo paper scrolls—much like how a loved one who has passed is memorialized and celebrated in Japanese culture.
This project is a collaboration with Kaiser Health News and The Guardian. From April 2020 to April 2021, their journalists have reported on close to 3,607 US healthcare worker deaths, gathered in an online interactive database called Lost on the Frontline.
Licensed clinical social worker, age 44
Corrina Thinn grew up in a home without electricity and running water. That was common in her rural Navajo Nation community, about 60 miles north of Tuba City, Arizona. Years later as a social worker at Tuba City Regional Health Care, Corrina saw patients living the same way. She empathized with them better than some of her co-workers could. "Corrina would come home and say, 'I don't know why they're making a big issue out of it. We can get by" her mother Mary Thinn recalled.
Corrina did more than just get by. She was what her oldest son, Gary Werito Jr., called a "model Navajo." "She left the reservation to get an education," he said. " And then she came home and helped her people." In early March, Corrina saw a patient while not wearing PPE, according to her sister Chris. That patient died shortly afterwards from COVID-19.
After learning of her patient's death, Corrina self-isolated. Her main concern was for her sister, Cheryl, who also worked at the hospital and had underlying conditions. Cheryl, too, became infected. Corrina was airlifted to Banner Thunderbird Medical Center in Glendale on March 24 and intubated on arrival. She died on April 29- two weeks after 44th birthday and 18 days after, Cheryl died.
"What I think," her son said, "is that my mom didn't want my aunt to go alone."
This project is a collaboration with Kaiser Health News and The Guardian. From April 2020 to April 2021 their journalists reported on close to 3,607 US healthcare worker deaths, gathered in an online interactive database called Lost on the Frontline
OB-GYN Resident, age 28
Dr. Adeline "Addie" Fagan was the second of four sisters, all pursuing or considering careers in the medical field. Her younger sibling, Maureen, 23, joined her on two medical mission trips to Haiti and saw firsthand the "grace" she brought to uncomfortable or embarassing moments for patients.
In July, Addie worked a rotation in the emergency department at HCA Houston Healthcare West. She tested positive for COVID-19 that month. The facility's chief medical officer, Dr. Emily Sedgwick, said the hospital's policies mandated that staff receive a new mask at the start of each shift. But Maureen said her sister reused an N95 mask with her name written on it "for weeks and weeks, if not months and months.
After over two months in hospital, much of the time hooked up to a ventilator and an ECMO device, Fagan suffered a massive brain hemorrhage, possibly because her vascular system had been weakened by the virus.
This project is a collaboration with Kaiser Health News and The Guardian. From April 2020 to April 2021 their journalists reported on close to 3,607 US healthcare worker deaths, gathered in an online interactive database called Lost on the Frontline.
Licensed Practical Nurse, age 35
Krist Guzman packed a lot into her short life. She worked full time while studying to become a registered nurse. She had three children, including a newborn. Smart, funny and outgoing, she nurtured relationships. "Hers was a life of no regrets," said a cousin, Jeschelyn Pilar.
In a Navy family that moved often, she was close to her brother, Anjo Castro. "She was my role model," said Castro, who also pursued a medical career in the Navy.
The pandemic hit home when their uncle, pediatric surgeon Dr. Leandro Resurreccion III, died on March 31st. Guzman told family she had seen patients with COVID-19. Worried she didn't have adequate protective gear, she scrambled to find some online.
Meadowbrook has registered the worst COVID-19 outbreak in Illinois, with more than three dozen deaths. A representative for the nursing home said in a statement: "Meadowbrook puts the safety and welfare of its residents and staff at the forefront of everything we do."
This project is a collaboration with Kaiser Health News and The Guardian. From April 2020 to April 2021 their journalists reported on close to 3,607 US healthcare worker deaths, gathered in an online interactive database called Lost on the Frontline.
Radiologist, age 74
By 10am on Sundays, David Wolin and his wife Susan would have completed one-quarter of the New York Times crossword puzzle.
When the grandchildren arrived, Wolin greeted them with bagels, lox, whitefish, and “the best scrambled eggs in the entire world," said Helena Cawley, his daughter.
Wolin was "kind, simple, loving and devoted." A radiologist specializing in mammography, he was "committed to learning everything he could," Cawley said. "The latest medical journal was always on his night stand."
He and Susan would skip off to their home upstate, where they might take out a rowboat, a bottle of chardonnay and a brick of Roquefort cheese under the stars. "All they needed was each other."
This project is a collaboration with Kaiser Health News and The Guardian. From April 2020 to April 2021 their journalists reported on close to 3,607 US healthcare worker deaths, gathered in an online interactive database called Lost on the Frontline.
Receptionist, age 28
Clair Fuqua was finding her path in life. "She was finally going to decide what she was going to do," Curt said. Her parents, who adopted Clair and two of her younger siblings when she was 10, hoped she would follow her passion for adoption and foster care into a career. Clair valued the love and stability of her forever family; before their adoption, Clair and her siblings had lived in six different foster homes.
When the coronavirus surfaced in Louisiana, Clair was already fighting bronchitis. She wore a mask to work to keep her cough to herself. Days after a colleague was diagnosed with COVID-19, Clair developed a fever.
Clair's employer declined to confirm how many staff members had become sick with COVID-19 or to comment on this story. Clair was hospitalized on March 22. "Everyone thought she would pull through," Curt said.
In Clair's honor, friends have donated Bibles and more than $2,100 to a local charity that supports children in the foster-care system.
This project is a collaboration with Kaiser Health News and The Guardian. From April 2020 to April 2021 their journalists reported on close to 3,607 US healthcare worker deaths, gathered in an online interactive database called Lost on the Frontline.
Optometrist, age 69
He could talk with anybody, about anything. He could sing. He loved wine, Italian dinners and concerts: Springsteen, Madonna, Diana Ross. Always with his wife, Joy Einhorn.
Norman had an optometry practice since 1983 but also worked in neuro-optometry, helping people whose illnesses or injuries impair their vision. He treated stroke patients, Special Olympic athletes, and trauma victims. "It's like physical therapy," Joy said, "but for the eyes."
He shuttered his office in March, following state orders, but continued to see patients at three rehabilitation centers. His family believes he contracted the coronavirus at one of the centers.
Norman lost his appetite and started coughing in May. Norman died in the hospital about two weeks after his diagnosis. Norman thought he had been protecting himself, Joy said, "but it's just so contagious."
This project is a collaboration with Kaiser Health News and The Guardian. From April 2020 to April 2021 their journalists reported on close to 3,607 US healthcare worker deaths, gathered in an online interactive database called Lost on the Frontline.
Certified Medication Aide, age 56
For 17 years, Barbara worked at a nursing home and received awards for perfect attendance. Management admired her work ethic enough to pay for her to become a certified medication aide. She was Navajo and could speak to residents in their indigineous tongue. "I know she helped a lot of people just by speaking the language," her daughter Charmayne said.
The home reported a number of COVID-19 cases. Bedonie tested negative for the virus repeatedly, but overwhelmed by fatigue, she knew something was wrong. She was hospitalized and finally a test confirmed she had the coronavirus, Charmayne said.
Charmayne expressed praise for the hospital and the nursing home. Her employer did not respond to questions about protective gear and said only, "Cedar Ridge Inn misses our beloved colleague very much."
Charmayne said families have been sharing stories about her mother. "They say she was a beautiful soul, inside and out." she said.
This project is a collaboration with Kaiser Health News and The Guardian. From April 2020 to April 2021 their journalists reported on close to 3,607 US healthcare worker deaths, gathered in an online interactive database called Lost on the Frontline.
Security Guard, age 39
When Griselda Bubb-Johnson couldn't reach her friend Marva - hospitalized with COVID-19- she called her son, Adiel Montgomery. Montgomery, a security guard in the hospital's emergency department, found his mother's friend in the ICE. He then did "everything for her," Bubb-Johnson said. When Marva was cold, he got a blanket. When she was hungry, he got food. When her phone died, he found a charger.
"Some people boast about their children, but I didn't have to," Bubb-Johnson said, "because everybody knew you could count on Adiel for anything."
Two weeks after Montgomery noted he couldn't taste his lunch, he experienced acute chest pain. After 12 hours in the ER, his heart stopped. "Nobody could believe it," Bubb-Johnson said. Montgomery had been vocal about a lack of personal protective equipment for hospital security guards, according to a New York Times report. The hospital did not respond to requests for comment.
Montgomery's 14 year-old daughter, Aaliyah, never got to say goodbye. She wrote a poem to put in the coffin. "Don't worry," Bubb-Johnson told her. "He'll read it. I promise."
This project is a collaboration with Kaiser Health News and The Guardian. From April 2020 to April 2021 their journalists reported on close to 3,607 US healthcare worker deaths, gathered in an online interactive database called Lost on the Frontline.