PA man pleads with his Facebook friends to help him find an ICU bed for mom with COVID-19



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A Pennsylvania man’s desperate call to find an intensive care unit to pick up his critically ill mother with COVID-19 has gone viral.

Shawn Rider’s mother Karen contracted the coronavirus in mid-November. She was admitted to hospital in Hanover, about two hours west of Philadelphia, and had been on a ventilator since November 23, her son wrote on social media.

But as her condition worsened, Karen needed an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine – a device the Hanover hospital did not have.

“We can’t make any promise that a hospital is available to take her to try ECMO,” a doctor told Rider.

Since the recent surge in COVID-19 rates, intensive care beds in Pennsylvania are at full capacity.

In a series of heartbreaking posts on his Facebook page, Rider wrote: “Is there anyone at York Hospital, Hershey Hospital, Penn State Hospital, Temple Hospital or Maryland who has links to the COVID ICU? My mother is not well and is at the maximum capacity of the hospitals in Hanover.

“We are looking for a hospital with an ECMO machine and a bed so that Hanover can transfer it to you. I’m sorry to be blunt, but FB is the fastest way to get news out there. The Hanover hospital is making calls, but I can’t go forward without doing my best.

“Mom… keep beating yourself up. We love you so much and we’re not ready to lose you, ”Rider pleaded in his December 1 post.

Four hours later, a doctor from York Hospital called and facilitated a transfer the next day.

“A nurse at York Hospital saw my message and took it straight to a doctor in the COVID intensive care unit and he immediately called my cell phone,” Rider wrote later. “I gave him the name Mom’s Dr in Hanover and he called them immediately and Mum is getting ready for the transfer as we speak in York.

Another article went into more detail on the saving call.

“I get a random number calling me… a doctor in York. He is calm. It’s clear. It’s affirmative, ”Rider wrote. “Shawn, this is Dr. Zubkus from York Hospital. Tell me about your mom and give me her doctor’s name and phone number, ”Rider recalls.

A few minutes later, Zubkus called Rider and said, “Shawn, we’re taking him.”

“NOW THIS IS F – KING LEADERSHIP, there ladies and gentlemen. He is a human being who not only cares about other human beings, but is confident in his abilities. He is someone who is not going to put the blame on someone else and avoid challenges. This is who I’m always going to have and that’s what my mom needs right now, ”Rider wrote.

Although Rider’s mother is still in serious condition and on a ventilator, her father was able to see her and Rider was able to speak to her via Zoom.

“Our family is moved by the outpouring of support that everyone has shown through our mother’s continued struggle,” he said, asking for prayers for friends who have lost loved ones to COVID. -19. “My dad also learned that he lost one of his best friends to COVID-19, Jeff Cunningham. Real people. Real lives. True virus. “

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