18-YO Shares Last Texts Of Doctor Mom Who Died Treating COVID-19 Patients In New York

It is heartbreaking to hear of COVID-19 fatalities all over the world. But it is particularly painful to see doctors, nurses and hospital staff being affected while caring for patients and losing their lives in the process. Here is the story of one such healthcare worker, 61-year-old Madhvi Aya.

According to the NY Times, “Madhvi Aya had been a doctor in India, then trained to become a physician assistant after she immigrated to the United States. She had worked for a dozen years at Woodhull Medical Center, a public hospital in Brooklyn.”

On March 18, she was admitted to the Long Island Jewish Medical Center after testing positive for the coronavirus. She was infected while treated other people as she wore only a surgical mask. 11 days later, she died fighting the infection.

Her 64-year-old husband Raj could not visit her during quarantine because his heart issues makes him more vulnerable to the disease. He was quoted saying, “She was always there for us, whenever we wanted,” but when she got sick, “no one was next to her.”

Her 18-year-old daughter Minnoli Aya who is studying to become a doctor herself revealed that the last thing she said to her mother (via text) was “I love you mommy with all my heart,” and received her reply “Love you.”

Here is what she texted her daughter 3 days before her death.

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These are the last texts of a hospital worker to her daughter. Madhvi Aya, who had been a doctor in India, worked in an emergency room in Brooklyn that was battered by the coronavirus. But within days of her last shift as a caregiver, she became infected. Aya, 61, was moved to a hospital less than 2 miles from her husband and 18-year-old daughter on Long Island, but they were not allowed to visit her. In a text with her family, she described horrible chest pain from trying to get out of bed. As she grew sicker, her texts came less frequently and in short, sporadic bursts. Her last message to her daughter was, “Mom be back.” She could not keep that promise. Front-line health care workers face a high risk of contracting the coronavirus, and scores have become sick. Aya’s text messages and her family’s account of her final days reveal a woman who spent much of her life devoted to medicine before succumbing to the cruel and familiar arc of a patient with Covid-19. Her early mild symptoms and quarantine at home were followed by a rapidly escalating illness and long waits for care, until she died alone. Read more at the link in our bio.

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Frontline medical workers deserve our respect but also Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits (currently in short supply) that keep them and their families safe. We hope that governments do all they can to provide them to hospitals as soon as possible.

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