Lost on the frontline is a collaboration between the Guardian and Kaiser Health News that aims to document the lives of healthcare workers in the US who die from Covid-19, and to understand why so many are falling victim to the pandemic.
Each week, we’re documenting new cases of healthcare workers who have died on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic. Here are their stories:
Clair Fuqua, 28
A former foster child who was charting her own path
Occupation: Receptionist
Place of work: Pineville children’s clinic in Pineville, Louisiana
Date of death: 2 April 2020
Clair Fuqua was finding her path in life.
She saved pictures of wedding dresses and venues on her phone, anticipating a proposal from her boyfriend of over two years, according to her parents, Curt and Claudia Fuqua. With a wide smile, Clair welcomed young patients to the clinic, but she was looking forward to other roles 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 for this story.
Clair was hospitalized on 22 March.
“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.
– Michaela Gibson Morris
Arthur Friedman, 62
An urgent care physician beloved by his patients
Occupation: Urgent care physician
Place of work: Independent Physician Association of Nassau/Suffolk counties, Smithtown, New York
Date of death: 30 April 2020
When Arthur Friedman did not get into medical school in the United States, he enrolled in a school in Tampico, Mexico, teaching himself Spanish. “He was willing to do whatever it took,” said Eric Friedman, his son.
Arthur went on to open his own urgent care facility in Commack, New York. Though he was best known for his decades of work there, he was working at a clinic in Smithtown over the last year.
Arthur loved boating, the outdoors and hoped to retire soon in Florida, to be near his children. When Covid-19 hit, he put those plans aside.
“He seemed like a superhero to us. Nothing fazed him,” said Nikki Friedman, his daughter. Arthur began to experience symptoms on 10 April and tested positive shortly after. (His employer did not respond to requests for comment.)
He died on 30 April and was buried next to his youngest son, Greg, who died in 2014.
Scores of Arthur’s former patients reached out to his children after his death to express their love and gratitude for him.
– Madeleine Kornfeld, City University of New York
Jerry Alford, 60
A former marine whose altruism shined in the operating room
Occupation: Licensed practical nurse
Place of work: DCH Regional medical center in Northport in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Date of death: 22 April 2020
Jerry Alford brought the same meticulous care to nursing he’d learned as a reconnaissance marine. He was a stickler for maintaining a sterile workspace and never passed on the chance to lighten a co-worker’s load.
Jerry dedicated 32 years to nursing and spent 27 of them married to Valerie, a trauma ICU nurse. Together they raised three sons and had three grandchildren.
When the pandemic hit, Jerry transferred to the emergency room, where Valerie believes he contracted Covid-19, despite access to personal protective equipment. Jerry’s employer said his exposure in the operating room would have been “likely very limited”.
Jerry had celebrated his 60th birthday in January with a blowout surprise party. His wife and sons invited family he hadn’t seen in years. “Not knowing that was going to be his last birthday,” said Valerie. “That’s the best thing I could have done for him.”
– Suzannah Cavanaugh, City University of New York
Marybeth Papetti, 65
A loving mother and nurse who ‘always looked tremendous’
Occupation: Registered nurse
Place of work: CareOne at Livingston Assisted Living, New Jersey
Date of death: 24 March 2020
Marybeth Papetti cared for beautiful things. She planted a garden filled with “a thousand different colors” of flowers, according to her son, Scott Papetti. Her nails, hair and makeup were always done, whether hanging out with girlfriends or dining out with her husband. “She always looked tremendous,” said Scott.
“You wouldn’t have thought she had any health issues,” said Scott, referring to her pulmonary fibrosis, a condition where lung tissue is scarred and blocks oxygen from passing through freely.
Scott does not know where his mother contracted the coronavirus, or whether she had adequate PPE at work. Marybeth worked as the director of nurses at an assisted living facility in New Jersey, which, as of 11 June, had reported 39 cases of Covid-19 among residents and staff and 15 deaths. But she also attended parties and continued regular appointments with a pulmonologist.
Papetti went to the hospital on 12 March with a fever and shortness of breath. She stayed there for two weeks before she died.
Almost everyone who sent messages after Marybeth passed talked about how well put together she was, according to Scott. “She would have been a wreck with not getting her hair done,” he joked.
– Lila Hassan
