Louisville family says app allowed them to witness loved one's final moments, despite COVID-19 hospital restrictions

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Keiko Neutz lived a full life with a big family, including eight children, 38 grandchildren and great grandchildren and four more on the way.

But, at 87 years old, Neutz's loved ones knew her days were few.

"She had suffered stroke," Neutz's daughter Debbie Taylor explained. "We as a family took care of her for the last five years in her home and we planned that, at the end, we were all going to be standing with her."

The family planned for Neutz's passing but not for the novel coronavirus pandemic. Not for a virus that has attacked the elderly with harsh consequences. And not for the hospital to say, "Stay away," rejecting visitors to fight the spread of the disease.

"They said she had COVID-19," Neutz's grandaughter Lacey Taylor said. "It was hard; 'Gut-wrenching' is the word I would use."

Those same feelings of anxiety, helplessness and fear hit home with families throughout the commonwealth and across the country as many hospitals have adopted no-visitor approaches to care for almost all patients, not just those who are battling COVID-19.

"I think that was the hardest part," Norton Healthcare nurse Julia Hunt said. "I always try and put myself in my patients' shoes and I know that, if I were the patient, I would want my family members to be there."

"(Neutz) was the first terminal (COVID-19) patient on our floor," fellow nurse Audrey Waters added. "I never thought that there would ever be a situation like this."

Hunt and Waters cared for Neutz at Norton Brownsboro Hospital and tried to keep her family looped in through FaceTime. But, with Neutz too sick to hold a phone, some of her many relatives were unable to connect.

Grandaughter Lacey Taylor found a solution: the HouseParty app, which allows eight people to video chat at the same time. Lacey Taylor said she had been using HouseParty to play games with her cousins when she realized it could serve a greater purpose.

"I took an old laptop of mine. I erased everything off of it, and the only thing on there was the HouseParty app," she said. "Then, I downloaded a remote desktop application to where I could run it for her."

The family took shifts looking in on Nuetz. Through the app, family members said they were able to see when she was in distress, as well as to sooth and reassure her as her life faded away. They're sharing their story now in hopes that it helps other families separated by similar hospital visitation restrictions.

Debbie Taylor described her mother's reactions to HouseParty, saying,"She kept touching the screen and trying to touch our faces so she would touch us as best she could." The app allowed Nuetz's family to have eyes in the hospital room during her hour of need and, in the end, they said it helped them make the final call.

"A picture is worth a thousand words, and being able to see her struggling with breathing and just her condition ... We knew that the oxygen needed to go off," Debbie Taylor said as she fought back tears. "There was no question."

As the sun rose Monday morning, the time came: Keiko Neutz took her final breaths as her family watched and prayed. The nurses did, too, and held Neutz's hand like a lifeline connecting her to loved ones at home.

"It's what I was called to do," Waters said. "I don't ever want to let a patient die alone."

Keiko Neutz lived a full life with a big family, and they gave her the best sendoff they could

"This COVID-19, it's a bad thing, but we were not going to let it get the best of us and we were going to find a way past it," Debbie Taylor said. "That's what I feel like our whole country needs to do."