LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville native spent three months caring for COVID-19 patients in New York City, going from the excitement of college graduation to the concerns of the front line of a deadly pandemic.
Erica Haywood, whose interest in nursing started at Pleasure Ridge Park High School, was working at an Atlanta hospital when she answered a call for help from several hundred miles away.
"Watching the news and hearing people's stories up in New York, I felt like the patients, the doctors and nurses were crying for help," Haywood said.
Not even a year out of nursing school, Haywood headed to epicenter.
"I felt like I had a duty as an ICU nurse to go assist with the pandemic," she said.
Haywood is part of a close-knit family, so telling her parents was just as much a concern as the coronavirus.
"I did not tell them until I signed the contract to go, and they were not happy," she said.
Iris Baker, Haywood's mother, is a proud mom, but she had a lot of concerns.
"She said, 'Hey, I want to come by. I want to share something with you guys,'" Baker recalled. "I actually started crying."
Baker is the wife of a retired Louisville Metro Police Officer and thought her days of worrying were behind her.
"I felt like we were on the safe side," she said. "I could go to sleep with no worries."
But watching her daughter head to the front lines brought back painful feelings and concerns.
"My first instinct was just fear," she said. "It went from being proud that she's saving lives to a mother in fear of her child's life."
Haywood agreed to check in at the end of every work day, and that gave Baker peace and eventually a lot of pride.
"I am just so proud of her," Baker said.
From banners to messages and even parades, New Yorkers showed their appreciation.
"If you had on scrubs on the street, strangers would say, 'Hello! Thank you for your service,'" Haywood said.
But she also witnessed the morbid side of COVID-19.
"The semi-trucks of morgues, that was a real thing," Haywood said.
After more than three months in New York, Haywood recently returned to Atlanta and started a blog called Nurse Beyond Average.
"It's just a space where I'll be telling my story, giving tips on how I got to where I am," she said.
She hopes it will motivate or inspire younger girls to follow in her footsteps.
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