Bob Harris gave his family one final gift.
He told them he did not want to be placed on a ventilator. He was at peace and ready to meet Jesus. Then, when his family was just not prepared for him to stop the fight against COVID-19, he agreed to be intubated. For a week.
A week wasn’t enough.
His wife, Marilou, had dropped him off at the emergency room on Oct. 29 with a hopeful, “Sweetie, I’ll come and get you tomorrow morning.” The 61-year-old motivational speaker had felt sick enough that day to seek a doctor’s care but well enough to mail bills and his absentee ballot en route to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills.
2020/12/22 13:01 FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2020, file photo, registered nurse Virginia Petersen works on a computer while assisting a COVID-19 patient at Providence Holy. FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2020, file photo, registered nurse Virginia Petersen works on a computer while assisting a COVID-19 patient at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills section of Los Angeles. California is desperately searching for nurses, doctors and other medical staff, perhaps from overseas, to meet demands as the coronavirus surge pushes hospitals across the state to the breaking point. With many of the state s hospitals running out of capacity to treat the severest cases, the state has brought in and deployed more than 500 extra staff but it needs a total of 3,000 temporary medical staff members. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)