When COVID Calls
For many, Facebook messages are a way to share memes, set up lunch dates, and reconnect with old high school friends. But for Grace Say Htee (pictured above), RISE AmeriCorps Member Support Coordinator at EMBARC, a Facebook message pulled her into the life-and-death struggle of a Des Moines family.
“A lot of people from my community know EMBARC,” says Grace, who has worked at the organization for nearly 3 years. A refugee herself, Grace is fluent in Karen—a language spoken by about 7 million people in Burma and Thailand. Many Karen refugees in Iowa reach out to EMBARC for interpretation services and resources to navigate their new lives in the U.S.
A few years ago, as part of her role as a Workready Navigator with EMBARC, Grace helped a young refugee woman and her brother find jobs at the Des Moines-based medical manufacturing company Katecho. In mid-March of 2020, just as the pandemic was starting to hit the U.S. full-force, the woman reached out to Grace through Facebook. Both she and her brother had contracted COVID-19 at work.
Worse still, the siblings had brought the virus home and infected their uncle Htoo Htoo*, age 66, and their mother, Yaya*, age 65. The elders of the family had been in the U.S. for only a decade and didn’t speak English. Both suffered from pre-existing conditions that, along with their age, put them in a high-risk category for COVID.
Through Facebook, Grace advised the woman to take her mother and uncle to urgent care. But they were reluctant to do so. Due to pandemic restrictions, they would have had to go in alone, without other family members to help them communicate with the doctor. They had also heard rumors circulating in the refugee community about the dangers of hospitals.
“Soon, however, their condition worsened. The woman called Grace to report that Htoo Htoo could hardly breathe and had fallen down the stairs. Grace immediately dialed 9-1-1.”
A few hours later, she did the same for Yaya. Both were admitted to MercyOne Medical Center in Des Moines. That was the start of a long, painful journey for the family—and for Grace.
Because no one in the family spoke fluent English, Grace served as their interpreter. Dozens of times each day, she spoke on the phone with the family and with the numerous health care providers treating Htoo Htoo and Yaya. She passed on their medical history, helped the family sign critical medical forms, and even fielded calls from Htoo Htoo and Yaya when they had to go to the bathroom, since they were unable to communicate with the nurses about their needs.
Grace also set up weekly Zoom calls so that the family could see their mother and uncle and talk to the medical staff. When Grace met with the family to explain how to use the video platform, she contracted COVID-10 herself. Fortunately, her case wasn’t too severe. But when she gave birth to a son in May, her husband and family couldn’t be in the delivery room with her, and her newborn was separated from her the instant he was born for protection. She had to request a photo so she could see what he looked like.
Throughout the entire ordeal, Grace was exhausted by the onslaught of phone calls and text messages, sometimes at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. At home caring for her infant son, she was also working full-time at EMBARC, where she fielded calls from the Crisis Helpline and Virtual Access Center. Although she sometimes wanted to ignore the calls about Htoo Htoo and Yaya, she continued answering, day and night.
“I realized that these people need help and are relying on us. We have to stand strong and help each other as much as we can in these hard times, especially for community members who don’t speak English.”
Click on the image above to see a detailed infographic showing the overall process required to help Htoo Htoo and Yaya recover from COVID-19.
For weeks, Htoo Htoo and Yaya were both in critical condition, each spending long stretches on a ventilator.
“At some point, I thought: ‘These two people won’t make it,’” recalls Grace. “I was so scared. I was so depressed. I felt like it was my family.”
Eventually, both Htoo Htoo and Yaya were removed from ventilators and released to rehab. Htoo Htoo relapsed a few weeks later and had to be readmitted to the hospital but recovered again. Both received occupational and physical therapy on a near daily basis, and Grace served as an interpreter for those calls, too, passing on instructions from the therapist about how to move specific body parts. The therapist had initially tried to work with an online interpreter, but the system matched them with someone who spoke Korean, not Karen. Plus, Htoo Htoo and Yaya felt more comfortable talking to Grace.
Finally, the elderly siblings were released from rehab and returned home. Now they only need to visit the doctor once a month for check-ups. Grace still keeps them informed about upcoming appointments and passes on prescription reminders. The whole family is incredibly grateful for everything Grace and EMBARC did to save the lives of their beloved mother and uncle.
Grace, too, was changed by the experience. She says she will always remember the day Htoo Htoo and Yaya returned home to their family.
“That was the biggest, happiest moment of my life.”
*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.
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