By now, everyone is familiar with the heroic efforts of our country’s medical personnel in confronting COVID-19, particularly in the worst days of the pandemic. The North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley has one of the more inspiring stories to tell, and their dedicated support in caring for one of the most severe cases in Colorado has earned them a Community Heroes award from the American Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming. In August of 2021, Jose Graciano, from Albuquerque, NM, was working in Greeley when he started to feel sick and had trouble breathing. Jose had contracted COVID-19 and was admitted to North Colorado Medical Center, where he would spend the next five months on a ventilator struggling for his life. Jose was told his chances of surviving were low and was even asked his preference about where he would want to pass away.
After five long months at NCMC, Jose was healthy enough to be transferred to a hospital closer to his home in Albuquerque, where he received a lung transplant. “The doctors said he wouldn’t have made it this far if they hadn’t taken care of him so well [at NCMC],” Jose’s wife, Anita, said.
Anita and Jose credit the unwavering support of the team in the Intensive Care Unit at NCMC for saving Jose’s life. Anita is grateful for everything the NCMC staff did to make this difficult and uncertain time bearable. “The nurses are the ones in the room every 30 minutes, they never got a break,” Anita said. The nurses would help Jose with moments that made him feel human again, like helping him stand, going outside for the first time in four months, walking the halls while on a ventilator, and playing cards. When the nurses allowed Jose and Anita’s children and grandchildren to visit over Christmas, Jose remembered what he was fighting for. Anita and Jose acknowledge how their faith and trust in God supported them through what would turn out to be a miracle. The staff at NCMC knew the odds were not in Jose’s favor, but they worked tirelessly to provide Jose with the utmost care and positivity. Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming will be celebrating the ICU team’s compassion and life-saving actions by naming them as Community Heroes at the American Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming Rocky Mountain Heroes Soiree.