NORFOLK, Va. — In a year that’s taken so much from so many, even a brief moment can be enough to say goodbye.
For Jennifer Firth, a Practice Manager at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, she said goodbye to long-time family friend Don Brooks, one of the more than 600,000 Americans who lost their lives to the coronavirus pandemic.
“He was like an additional father to me," Firth told 13News Now Thursday. “When the news came, I couldn’t process it."
Eastern Virginia Medical School invited its staff, along with CHKD and Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, for a moment of silence and memorial Thursday afternoon to honor the area's healthcare workers, by allowing them to honor the lives they've personally lost to the coronavirus pandemic.
A pinwheel for every life taken from the virus, planted in a row now sitting on the entrance leading to Sentara Norfolk General.
"Despite great risk, you came to work each day, and gave 100 percent of your effort, with a seemingly unlimited supply of compassion, love, and sympathy," said Frank Counselman, Chair and Professor of EVMS Emergency Medicine.
More than a year after the initial COVID-19 outbreak, the growing Delta variant threatens another wave of rising cases in the country. The CDC rolled back recommendations for vaccinated individuals in "high" or "substantial" transmission areas this week.
While a brief moment of closure for some, it's a passing reminder that the impacts felt from the pandemic are far from over.
"This gave me my real opportunity to actually say goodbye," Firth said.