ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Healthcare workers at CentraCare - St. Cloud Hospital are sharing their stories of working during the COVID-19 pandemic in a new book.
"Just Breathe: COVID Stories from the Heart of Minnesota in the Words of Caregivers" is now available to purchase on Amazon.
It is a compilation of stories, letters and creative writing from employees at St. Cloud Hospital. The effort to publish the work was spearheaded by nurses Amanda Shank, Lisa Kilgard and Nicole May. All three worked in the hospital's Medical Unit One, which was the primary COVID unit, during the height of the pandemic.
Their entries in the book detail the emotional toll that came from caring for patients, who could not physically be with their own families.
"We were their sole support," May said during an interview with KARE 11.
The book also details what life was like during the early stages of the pandemic, when there was no vaccine and many unknowns about the virus.
"I watched [the patients'] transformation from strong, healthy people who came to the hospital, some with just a sore throat, to a fragile, brittle shell," Kilgard wrote. "As I read their obituaries, my mind flooded with images of stories they had shared with me in their last breaths as I sat at their bedside."
As the book's description on Amazon says, "By sharing these stories with one another, the hope is to bring about a sense of peace, understanding, and healing."
You can purchase the book here.