Coronavirus Delaware County: Parade Of Thanks For Health Care Workers Who Are 'Facing The Devil In The Face'
DELAWARE COUNTY, Pa. (CBS) -- A parade of thanks was held in Delaware County Wednesday for frontline health care workers at Crozer Chester Medical Center. There was plenty of food and fanfare, all provided by a popular hometown charitable organization.
The police-escorted ride to Crozer Chester Medical Center consisted of a relatively small group with a simple message.
"The name of the game is to show how much we appreciate the first responders, the nurses and doctors that are putting their lives on the line every single day for us," said Anthony Lussi, with The Delco Group.
Heading from Springfield down the Blue Route, the so-called Delco Group snaked towards the hospital, where in March, Delaware County's first COVID-19 patient was tested.
That seemed so long ago. Pulling into the medical campus revealed a much larger, coordinated gathering -- a massive thank you from first responders and families to hospital staff.
"They're seeing something that the general public just, we have no idea," said John Port, with The Delco Group. "We're not seeing what the nurses and the doctors and the assistants and the aides that are working in these hospitals, that they're seeing every single day. They're facing the devil in the face, I guess you would say."
There was an energetic, heartfelt sustained applause as doctors, nurses and medics emerged from the four walls of a battle that has affected so many of us — but none more than them.
Bruce Egan, chief of EMS for Crozer Keystone Health System recently recovered from COVID-19. It was 25 long days of fighting what he says was the worst illness he's ever experienced.
"The worst part of it was being separated from my family," Egan said. "In my case, it was the weakness and basically, the fever for three weeks."
