Memorial unveiled for COVID-19 deaths; essential workers honored, too

Khushboo Rathore, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
·3 min read

Jul. 23—The 526 people who died of COVID-19 in Frederick County were remembered on Saturday at a ceremony that also honored survivors and essential workers, including delivery drivers and nurses.

County Council members and County Executive Jan Gardner gathered at Utica District Park as an etched rock slab, surrounded by a trellis and bench, was unveiled.

The path to the memorial stone is paved. The county will add lighting for the area, according to attendee Kelli Reid.

Kelli is the wife of Emilio Reid, a COVID-19 survivor who spoke at the event.

Emilio, an essential worker, became sick in March 2021. He was in Frederick Health Hospital's ICU for 53 days, Kelli said.

Those 53 days were "surreal," Kelli said. She never expected that things she saw on the news could happen to her family.

"Every day, not knowing if he was going to survive, some days I would leave and he would have had a really good day and within minutes, everything changed," she said.

Emilio doesn't remember the days he was was unconscious, with a ventilator in his throat to help him breathe.

All he remembers is a vision of laughing with his brother and father. His brother told him to get out of his house, and when Emilio opened his eyes, he saw his son standing over him, wearing full personal protective equipment.

It's hard for him to grasp that he was under for 53 days, he said. Everything he knows about that time is based on information from others.

Emilio said he was in cardiac arrest twice while he on the ventilator.

Rachel Bosco, a registered nurse at Frederick Health Hospital, helped care for him and got to know Kelli and the couple's son, Alex.

"Seeing him alive, thriving with his family is just amazing," Bosco said of Emilio. "It really does show that what we did was worth it."

Supporting families and making sure patients have basic human care is a big part of her job, she said.

Fighting against COVID-19 has been challenging, but also rewarding, she said.

But Bosco also watched people suffer and die, and couldn't do anything about it. She got to know their families and rooted for them. Some patients pushed the "limits of what medicine could provide," but still died, she said.

After leaving the ICU, Emilio went to acute rehabilitation in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Emilio was in a combination of ICU and rehab for 90 days. He said he had to relearn how to write, walk and talk.

Emilio's voice was raspy as he talked about the continuing effects of the virus. He was recently diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis and can only use 54% of his lungs.

"I've been working since the age of 15, so this has really been a struggle of being home and not being able to do much of anything," he said.

Mental anguish has taken a toll. He is no longer the "breadwinner" in his family, Emilio said.

He has been in therapy and said the support of family and friends is huge.

Emilio hopes the memorial will be a place for people who lost someone to reflect and get closure.

"I truly believe that it's something that should be in every single county all around the U.S.," Emilio said.

Frederick County's memorial was funded with $250,000 from the county's $50.4 million in relief funds from the American Rescue Plan, according to an email from U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen's office.

Van Hollen spoke at the event, which was also attended by Frederick Health Hospital's Cheryl Cioffi, Dr. Randall Culpepper from the Frederick County Health Department, and representatives from the offices of U.S. Reps. David Trone and Jamie Raskin.

"I'm very glad that the County Council decided to put this memorial here as a reminder of that loss and it's a reminder of what we need to do going forward to save our fellow Americans and our loved ones," Van Hollen said.