We Failed Our Most Essential

This is Part Four of a Four-Part Series Honoring the Lives We’ve Lost to COVID-19

The Guardian and Kaiser Health News created Lost on the Frontline to “document the lives of every US medical worker who dies helping patients during the pandemic.” So far, they have identified 787 frontline healthcare workers who died of COVID-19 and they have published obituaries for 147 of them. The healthcare workers who have died deserve to be recognized, honored, and mourned. Many of their deaths were preventable, and the systemic failures that have led to such a catastrophic loss of life need to be identified and remedied before more frontline workers are made unwilling martyrs.

In the early days of the pandemic, failures in the United States’ emergency pandemic preparation left far too many frontline workers vulnerable to COVID-19. They lacked PPE and other necessary medical supplies. There were too few COVID-19 tests, and the ones they did have were too unreliable with results that took too long. There weren’t enough ICU beds or personnel to meet the needs of the sickest patients. Frontline workers started dying, not just healthcare workers, but bus drivers and grocery workers, and others deemed essential—but not essential enough to protect.

With COVID-19 cases surging, we can’t afford to make the same mistakes. We can’t lose another 787 healthcare workers.

  • Don Ryan Batayola
  • Barbara Bedonie
  • Brittany Bruner-Ringo
  • Karla Dominguez
  • Monica Echeverri Casarez

Some of Those Lost on the Frontline

Don Ryan Batayola, 41, Occupational Therapist, New Jersey – Don Ryan Batayola and his wife, Niña, both occupational therapists, moved to New Jersey from the Philippines 13 years ago. They loved to travel with their two children, Zoie, 10, and Zeth, 8, and the day Batayola died was supposed to be the start of a 10-day European vacation. To his friends and family—in the states and in the Philippines—Batayola was selfless and loving, nurturing and sincere, and a generous gift giver who loved Bob Marley.

Barbara Bedonie, 56, Certified Medication Aide, New Mexico – A Navajo mother of three and grandmother of nine, Barbara Bedonie loved the Dallas Cowboys and family trips to San Diego. She worked in the healthcare field for 25 years, 17 of them at Cedar Ridge Inn, a nursing home facility in Farmington, New Mexico. Bedonie was a devout Christian who was known for her positivity and heartwarming smile. She is remembered by her family as “the epitome of kindness and compassion” who “dedicated her life in serving others”.

Brittany Bruner-Ringo, 32, Licensed Vocational Nurse, California – After a patient with COVID-19 symptoms was admitted into the Silverado Beverly Place Memory Care Community in mid-March, infection spread throughout the assisted living facility. At least 63 people—more than three dozen residents and 27 staffers—contracted the virus. Nine people died, including 32-year-old Brittany Bruner-Ringo, a licensed vocational nurse. Bruner-Ringo was originally from Oklahoma and loved taking family vacations to New Orleans. She followed in the nursing footsteps of her mother and grandmother and is remembered as kind-hearted, upbeat, and dedicated to her patients.

Karla Dominguez, 33, Registered Nurse, Texas – Karla Dominguez flourished as a nurse at the Providence Children’s Hospital in El Paso, Texas, where she connected with even the most challenging patients. She went to the emergency room in early April with severe migraines but was twice denied a test for COVID-19. She was later hospitalized and tested positive with hemorrhaging in her brain. National Nurses United held an online vigil in Dominguez’s memory in late April when she was counted as one of more than 60 RNs to have died from COVID-19. NNU President Jean Ross stated that, “Nurses are dying, and this is unacceptable. Our lives are not expendable. Karla’s life was not expendable.”

Monica Echeverri Casarez, 49, Surgical Technician, Michigan – Monica Echeverri Casarez was the daughter of Colombian immigrants who worked as a Spanish-English interpreter in clinical settings, as a part-time surgical technician at Harper University Hospital in Detroit, and as a teacher at Henry Ford College in their Surgical Tech Program. Her colleagues, friends, and students remember her as highly organized, completely selfless, and dedicated “to making the classroom experience meaningful to her students”. Echeverri Casarez “lived at full-speed” and her husband of seven years, Jorge, told Latino that “I loved her smile, she was full of joy and she was MY joy. …Everything she did was done with love.”

  • Frank Gabrin
  • Brian Garrett
  • Marilyn Howard
  • Pamela L. Hughes and daughter Brie
  • Kevin Leiva

Frank Gabrin, 60, ER Physician, New York – In mid-March, with the pandemic raging in New York and New Jersey, there was not enough PPE to go around. Dr. Frank Gabrin was forced to wear the same N95 mask four days in a row, and when he died less than two weeks later, he became the first ER doctor in the U.S. known to have died from COVID-19. The two-time cancer survivor and wellness author married his husband Arnold Vargas in August 2019, only seven months before his death. He died at home in his husband’s arms.

Brian Garrett, 45, Van Driver for Patients, Colorado – The 6’5″ tall father of four had no underlying health conditions before he came down with symptoms of COVID-19. He worked with Columbine Health Systems in Fort Collins, Colorado, for 13 years as a van driver who transported patients to and from medical appointments. Despite his imposing stature, Garrett was known as a “gentle giant” with a “big smile and a friendly hello” who is also remembered as a “wonderful husband and an amazing father”.

Marilyn Howard, 53, School Nurse, New York – It is likely that Marilyn Howard caught COVID-19 from a fellow nurse at the Spring Street Community School in Brooklyn shortly before Mayor de Blasio ordered schools to shut down due to the pandemic. Howard emigrated from Guyana with her parents at age 14 and helped care for her four younger brothers before going to college at 35 and earning her Master’s degree. Hundreds turned out on Zoom to mark Nine-Night, a Caribbean wake tradition, in tribute to Howard who was a doting aunt to eight nieces and nephews. To honor Howard’s spirit, her brothers hope to start a foundation to help aspiring nurses in the U.S. and West Indies.

Pamela L. Hughes, 50, Nursing Home Medication Aide, Kentucky – For 32 years, Pamela Hughes worked at Summit Manor, a nursing home in Columbia, Kentucky where she dispensed medication to patients. She was the first healthcare worker known to die of COVID-19 in Kentucky. She is remembered as loyal, dependable, and dedicated, and she wanted to keep helping her patients, even after several residents tested positive for the virus. Every year for a decade, Hughes and a coworker built a float for Columbia’s Christmas parade competition, and every year they came in second place.

Kevin Leiva, 24, EMT, New Jersey – Kevin Leiva died April 7, only one week after his friend and colleague, Israel Tolentino Jr., died. In high school, Leiva began an online courtship with a young woman who lived 1,000 miles away, and the day after high school graduation, Marina Remington flew to New York to finally meet her long-distance sweetheart, and they married in January 2018. Leiva considered becoming an EMT a calling from God, and he was dedicated to his job and proud of his recent promotion to Supervisor.

  • Roger Liddel
  • Michael Marceaux
  • Anjanette Miller
  • Adiel Montgomery
  • Matthew Moore

Roger Liddel, 64, Supply Manager, Michigan – Originally from Mississippi, Roger Liddel was one of nine siblings and a former Marine and postal worker. He worked at McLaren Flint Hospital for almost 20 years in ICU/CCU supply chain management, but he was denied a request for protective gear at the hospital because he didn’t treat patients. He was a husband, father, and grandfather known for his affable personality as a “dedicated employee who brought smiles and friendly service to everyone he interacted with.”

Michael Marceaux, 49, Registered Nurse, Louisiana – After he retired from the Air Force, Michael Marceaux began his career as an emergency room nurse. He graduated from nursing school at Northwestern State University in 2018, and he was known as someone who went “above and beyond for patients”. Marceaux was a husband and a father to four sons, and he is remembered “for his joyful laugh, smile and his everlasting positive attitude, even after a long shift.”

Anjanette Miller, 48, Registered Nurse, Illinois – Born in the Philippines, Anjanette Miller pursued her dream of becoming a nurse in the U.S. in 2001. She supervised nurses at three Chicago-area facilities. When she became ill with COVID-19 symptoms, she initially tested negative, and she started chronicling her experience with the disease on social media in March. She died on April 14, just months before she hoped to return to the Philippines to work on a film project and celebrate her father’s 80th birthday.

Adiel Montgomery, 39, Security Guard, New York – In March, Adiel Montgomery helped cared for his mother’s friend, Marva, who was hospitalized with COVID-19. He was a father and worked as a security guard at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn and as a part-time supervisor at the Urban Resource Institute, a domestic violence shelter. When the pandemic came to New York, he spoke out about the lack of PPE for hospital security guards, and although they eventually received protective gear, it was already too late. As of mid-April, at least five employees of Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center had died of COVID-19.

Matthew Moore, 52, Radiologic Technologist, New York – Staten Island-native and former Engine 161/81 firefighter “Matty” Moore was a first responder at Ground Zero for three months following 9/11. After retiring from the FDNY in 2006, he became a Radiologic technologist in Northwell Health’s GoHealth Urgent Care in Eltingville, Staten Island. His lungs, damaged by his time spent at Ground Zero, made him especially vulnerable when he contracted COVID-19, and he died in April.

  • Paul Odighizuwa
  • Sarah Roncskevitz
  • Rose Taldon
  • Israel Tolentino
  • Gerald Welch

Paul Osaze Odighizuwa, 61, OHSU Food Services Coordinator, Oregon – Paul Odighizuwa left Nigeria in 1987 and moved to Oregon where he studied visual arts at Portland State University and began his career at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. In March, workers in OHSU’s food and nutrition department complained to management that COVID-19 safety guidelines weren’t being followed and PPE wasn’t available. In April, OHSU announced it had addressed these concerns, but by mid-May, at least 45 OHSU employees had contracted the virus, including 11 in food and nutrition services. Odighizuwa had planned to retire and move back to Nigeria, but he died on May 12, leaving behind a grieving daughter and members of his Edo tribe.

Sarah Roncskevitz, 32, Medical Social Worker, California – Mother of two Sarah Roncskevitz overcame substance abuse and domestic violence to graduate from Berkeley Social Welfare in 2019 with a Master’s in Social Work. She wanted to reform the field and worked in the Emergency Department of Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center. She was known as a “pillar of strength”, a “force of nature”, and a “warrior mom”. A GoFundMe was set up to support her two children and her fiancé, Cal—they were engaged to be married on June 20.

Rose Taldon, 63, Nurse, Massachusetts – Mother of three and grandmother of eight, Rose Taldon worked in public transit at the MBTA for 23 years while earning her nursing degree and beginning her 35-year nursing career. Most recently, she worked at New England Baptist Hospital in Boston for a decade, where 19 employees had tested positive by the time Taldon passed away on Easter Sunday. Friends and family described her as gregarious, hardworking, stern but generous, and a strong Black woman.

Israel Tolentino Jr., 33, EMT and Firefighter, New Jersey – When he was five-years-old, Israel “Izzy” Tolentino, Jr., put out a small fire in his backyard, and that’s when he knew he wanted to be a firefighter when he grew up. Tolentino was a former Marine, a firefighter who joined the Passaic Fire Department in 2018, and an EMT at Saint Clare’s Health in the same unit as Kevin Levia, who also died from the virus. Tolentino was a “selfless” husband and father of two, and his death prompted the mayor of Passaic to call for legislation to classify New Jersey first responder COVID-19 fatalities as line-of-duty deaths.

Gerald Welch, 56, Social Worker and Behavioral Specialist, Pennsylvania – When the pandemic hit Pennsylvania, social worker Gerald Welch continued to provide the support his severely autistic clients needed, including rides to work and the grocery store. Although he took preventative measures, he still caught COVID-19 and died on April 15. He was a husband, father, grandfather, Co-Founder/President of F.O.C.U.S. (Families, Organizations and Communities United in Service), and an Adjunct Professor at HACC. He also served “as a boardroom advocate for underperforming students in the school district, and at the St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, where he resurrected a scholarship now named in his honor.”

Read More About These Lives and Others We’ve Lost:

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