DUDLEY, Mass. — A mother from Dudley says one of her greatest gifts is fighting the pandemic alongside her daughter.
Alexandra Dube told Boston 25 News that she spent her childhood looking up to her mother.
“Starting nursing in the middle of a pandemic was just not what I expected,” said Alex. “I knew I wanted to do what she did and help people I thought that was just the coolest way to spend your life and not many people get to say that their job helps people every day.”
Her mother, Jonna Dube, is the Senior Director of Ambulatory Services at UMass Memorial Medical Center.
“I’m just so proud of her, it’s almost overwhelming, I cry a lot because I’m just so proud of her, she gets to make a difference," said Alex.
Working with her daughter happened much faster than they thought. At the beginning of the year, Alex was a nurse graduate at the university campus.
“I got hired to work on the pediatric floor so to now be on the ‘prone team’ in the adult ICU is such a whirlwind it’s just not at all what I expected," said Alex.
The “prone team” is a small group that oversees COVID-19 patients on ventilators.
“Every day I say I’m so incredibly proud of you and please stay safe these are really unprecedented times and I worry she’s in with the COVID-19 positive patients every single day," said Jonna.
For the two of them, this Mother’s Day was about taking a break and reflecting on what has happened the last few weeks and what they hope to see happen soon.
“We get donations every day from the community and feeling that support just gets you through the tiredness," said Jonna.
“It’s beautiful to see that and I hope that that is something that can continue, something that we can learn from this is how important teamwork is,” said Alex.
“I think we have a lot to be hopeful for, I really do – we hopefully are at the peak and we are looking forward to getting back to some kind of normalcy so I’m really hopeful we can get to pre-COVID-19 times shortly," said Jonna.
Alex may not be the last nurse in the family, her younger sister is planning to do the same.
Download the free Boston 25 News app for up-to-the-minute push alerts
>> Complete local and national coronavirus coverage here
RESOURCES:
- Massachusetts Coronavirus Information
- Boston Coronavirus Information
- Follow us on Facebook and Twitter | Watch Boston 25 NOW
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
