Carol Lewis, M.H.A. ’91, and her brother Jeff Green lost their father, Hiram Green, in April to COVID-19. Lewis, a clinical research associate, said she often has to travel for her work and thus stays in many hotels. When she would arrive at the hotel, she would call her parents. “When dad would get on the phone, he would say, ‘Hello, where are you?’ Today, I want to tell him, dad, I’m in Philadelphia to honor you and to tell the world how special you are and how much I love and I miss you,” Lewis said. Hiram Green was a Korean War veteran.
Over 850 folding chairs lined the grass next to the Independence Visitor Center, in front of Independence Hall, each chair representing 10 people who died of COVID-19. COVID Survivors for Change, headed by Christopher Kocher, put together the display on Oct. 23 to remember the approximately 8,673 COVID-19 deaths in Pennsylvania. In addition to the display, the organization livestreamed the event featuring people who remembered their loved ones lost to COVID-19.
Bari Himes lost her mother, Rose Phillips, who was living in a nursing home at the time, to COVID-19 in April. Phillips was in remission from stage four metastatic breast cancer.“Some may say that people are tired of COVID, well I’m not tired of grieving for my mom,” Himes said.
Noe Sepulveda speaks at the event about his mother, Teresa, who died of COVID-19. The last time Sepulveda spoke to his mother, while still in the ICU, he told her, “Breathe Mom, breathe. Fight Mom. Stay strong. I love you Mom.” His mother was intubated and placed on a ventilator for 36 days until she died.
Liz Feeney holds a photo of her father, Ray Dougherty Sr., who died of COVID-19 in July. She spoke of the struggle with grief that she and her family have been having. “Loss is such a heavy burden in itself. The circumstances that come with loss due to COVID-19 make that burden almost impossible to bear.”
Passersby look on over the more than 850 chairs set up in front of Independence Hall to remember the over 8,500 deaths from COVID-19 in Pennsylvania.
Noe Sepulveda holds a photo of his mother, Teresa, who died of COVID-19 in May, before he speaks. Sepulveda contracted COVID-19 at the same time as his mother and they both spent their time in the same ICU. “The fear of death was overwhelming. I called home to say goodbye and I love you to my children in case I didn’t make it. But, I wasn’t prepared to lose my mother.”
Christopher Kocher, executive director of COVID Survivors for Change, speaks at the end ofthe event. He closed by saying when people hear the stories of those who have died of COVID-19, they have the power to demand a change, followed by a moment of silence. “We came together today to mourn with you. To pledge to you today that we will stand with you and carry your stories forward today, tomorrow and until we end this pandemic so we can bring about the change that we so desperately need,” Kocher said.
