After beating COVID-19, patient finds and thanks all 116 health care workers who saved his life
When Jeff Gerson learned how many people provided care to him while he was hospitalized with the coronavirus, the Manhattan resident knew he had to thank each and every one of them.
Gerson was admitted to NYU Langone Tisch Hospital in mid-March, when the hospital was inundated with coronavirus patients — 170 were on ventilators, and soon, so was Gerson. He was taken off the ventilator in April and able to go home in May, and after going through his hospital and insurance records, he discovered just how many people were involved in saving his life: 116 doctors, nurses, therapists, and other health care workers.
"I just wanted to thank everybody," Gerson told the New York Daily News. Over the next five months, he worked on getting contact information for everyone, and on Nov. 10, sent a three-page letter expressing his gratitude and encouraging them to "continue being the heroes you are." Dr. Luis Angel told the Daily News it was "incredible" to hear from Gerson, and he appreciated that his former patient thanked each person who had a role in his recovery. Gerson's survival, Angel said, is "a credit to everyone. Everyone did the best for him."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
‘Congratulations on your house, but maybe try a greyhound instead’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
How climate change poses a national security threatThe explainer A global problem causing more global problems
-
The 5 best TV shows about the mobThe Week Recommends From the show that launched TV’s golden age to a Batman spin-off, viewers can’t get enough of these magnificent mobsters
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the rightSpeed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shotSpeed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
