I: Nobody is Disposable

Speaking Truth to Power

March 2020—My world, and everyone else’s living on this planet, came to a complete stop. There was something in the air that was killing people by the thousands and sickening thousands more. That something was Covid-19, a novel virus that the health professionals and scientists knew nothing about. When the virus was detected in my city of NY, the entire city went on lockdown. People were told to stay indoors and not leave their homes unless absolutely necessary. For me, and thousands like me that live in long term care facilities, this was like a death sentence. So many who live in these institutions have underlying illnesses that this virus seems to thrive on; for many of us, contracting this virus can be a death sentence.

The dangers we faced were two fold. First, there was the deadly virus itself; second, there  were the people that were supposed to keep us safe. They had no idea what to do in a situation like this. They were using text book guidelines for something that was not playing by the rules. This was evident through their response to this highly contagious deadly virus.

I tested positive three days after my unit went under quarantine. The reason for this is that they were quarantining the sick and the healthy in the same space. We all shared the same bathroom, same dayroom and were cared for by the same staff that never changed their PPE's. From one patient to the next, there were countless stories of the administration not following protocol or lying about having sufficient PPE. I saw and have pictures of a staff member discarding their PPE in the dayroom garbage receptacle—the same receptacle used by patients regularly.

As a resident of Coler on Roosevelt Island I feel the people in power truly failed us by not taking actions that could have saved many lives. A very close friend and supporter of OPEN DOORS made a video of all the people we knew wishing us well and asking us to stay strong. Upon seeing that, one of our members broke down and cried because he, like many of us, thought no one cared. Our voices were not being heard and they (the administration) were non-existent. I never saw anyone from the administration for weeks or for the duration of the first wave for that matter.

It was the most terrifying experience of my life. But through the darkness there was a crack of light that shined through in something called commun-unity or common unity: everyone came together to fight a common enemy which is just what happened on this tiny rock we call home. I have read and seen stories like this on TV but have never experienced such love and support from people who were, for the most part, total strangers to me. It was through their support that I was able to stay strong and survive this deadly virus. They stepped up and came to our aid with things like PPE, thousands of N-95 masks, gowns, hand sanitizers— all of which we distributed to the staff and patients. Their efforts and their voices demanding those in power to actually do something was what made the difference, because we realized that the administration were puppets; the people at the top pulled the string and they danced; they were not advocating for our safety.

I have lived in this country for more than half a century and always felt I did not have the right to speak up about wrongs that I was experiencing because I am an immigrant. It wasn't until the pandemic that I decided to break my silence and fight against a machine that was putting so many lives at risk. It was like, what can you do to me now? I am fighting for my life and the life of many others. I remembered visiting Four Freedoms Park pre-pandemic and reading the Four Fundamental fFreedoms people all over the world should have so I decided I had nothing to fear but fear itself. Never again will I be silent about a wrong being done to me or a person.

By Peter Yearwood
OPEN DOORS Reality Poet

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