California Nurse Follows Mother's Footsteps in Fighting Pandemic
2021-02-16
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1A California nurse helping to fight COVID-19 says she feels a special link to her mother, who helped battle the 1918 flu pandemic.
2Sigrid Stokes is a 76-year-old nurse from Salinas, California.
3She told The Associated Press she has no plans to immediately retire from her job.
4She says she is too busy working to save lives during a deadly pandemic, just as her mother did more than a century ago.
5Her mother, Kristine Berg Mueller, helped treat people during the flu pandemic that spread around the world in 1918.
6Today, Stokes is giving vaccinations to health care workers battling COVID-19.
7Mueller was a 14-year-old student in her native Norway when the flu pandemic hit.
8That pandemic killed an estimated 50 million people, including about 675,000 in the United States, records from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention show.
9Stokes said her mother wanted to do her part to help those suffering during the pandemic.
10"So she and a friend volunteered at the local hospital to help out in whatever way they could -- which I would imagine would be things like feeding people, bathing people, changing beds, whatever they could do," she said.
11Many years after the 1918 pandemic, Stokes said her mother told her the experience led her to want to become a nurse.
12But the family had no money to send Mueller to nursing school.
13Her mother moved to the United States in 1923.
14Four years later, she was accepted into an American nursing program.
15Mueller married and settled in Los Angeles, where Stokes' father ran a bookstore.
16One of her mother's nursing jobs was to work on Hollywood movie sets to make sure child actors stayed safe and healthy.
17One of the many pictures Stokes has of her mother shows Mueller happily talking to famous child star Shirley Temple.
18Stokes said she enjoys her work and now takes the responsibility of giving COVID-19 vaccine shots very seriously.
19"I give very good shots, I might add, good jabs," she told the AP.
20It wasn't until Stokes was in her late 20s that she decided she wanted to follow her mother into nursing.
21"I was volunteering in the pediatric ward and so on and I all of a sudden realized, you know, I really like this," she said.
22Stokes was working part-time when the coronavirus crisis hit he country early last year.
23She says she was too old to safely treat COVID-19 patients, but knew she could help with vaccinations.
24As she arrives to work each day, she wears a pair of earrings she made from a Norwegian necklace that her mother wore each day before her death in 1995.
25"I wear them every time I come to work because I feel like it's a sort of talisman that she's with me and our family," Stokes said.
26COVID-19 has killed more than 2.3 million people worldwide, including more than 460,000 in the U.S. Stokes says she will not consider retiring until the virus has been slowed.
27"We've got to get this done," she said.
28"We've got to get people vaccinated so we can get this country moving again."
29I'm Bryan Lynn.
1A California nurse helping to fight COVID-19 says she feels a special link to her mother, who helped battle the 1918 flu pandemic. 2Sigrid Stokes is a 76-year-old nurse from Salinas, California. She told The Associated Press she has no plans to immediately retire from her job. She says she is too busy working to save lives during a deadly pandemic, just as her mother did more than a century ago. 3Her mother, Kristine Berg Mueller, helped treat people during the flu pandemic that spread around the world in 1918. Today, Stokes is giving vaccinations to health care workers battling COVID-19. 4Mueller was a 14-year-old student in her native Norway when the flu pandemic hit. That pandemic killed an estimated 50 million people, including about 675,000 in the United States, records from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention show. 5Stokes said her mother wanted to do her part to help those suffering during the pandemic. "So she and a friend volunteered at the local hospital to help out in whatever way they could -- which I would imagine would be things like feeding people, bathing people, changing beds, whatever they could do," she said. 6Many years after the 1918 pandemic, Stokes said her mother told her the experience led her to want to become a nurse. But the family had no money to send Mueller to nursing school. 7Her mother moved to the United States in 1923. Four years later, she was accepted into an American nursing program. 8Mueller married and settled in Los Angeles, where Stokes' father ran a bookstore. 9One of her mother's nursing jobs was to work on Hollywood movie sets to make sure child actors stayed safe and healthy. One of the many pictures Stokes has of her mother shows Mueller happily talking to famous child star Shirley Temple. 10Stokes said she enjoys her work and now takes the responsibility of giving COVID-19 vaccine shots very seriously. "I give very good shots, I might add, good jabs," she told the AP. 11It wasn't until Stokes was in her late 20s that she decided she wanted to follow her mother into nursing. "I was volunteering in the pediatric ward and so on and I all of a sudden realized, you know, I really like this," she said. 12Stokes was working part-time when the coronavirus crisis hit he country early last year. She says she was too old to safely treat COVID-19 patients, but knew she could help with vaccinations. 13As she arrives to work each day, she wears a pair of earrings she made from a Norwegian necklace that her mother wore each day before her death in 1995. 14"I wear them every time I come to work because I feel like it's a sort of talisman that she's with me and our family," Stokes said. 15COVID-19 has killed more than 2.3 million people worldwide, including more than 460,000 in the U.S. Stokes says she will not consider retiring until the virus has been slowed. 16"We've got to get this done," she said. "We've got to get people vaccinated so we can get this country moving again." 17I'm Bryan Lynn. 18The Associated Press reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. 19We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 20_______________________________________________________________ 21Words in This Story 22flu - n. a common sickness caused by a virus 23jab - n. to push something quickly and hard into or towards another thing 24pediatric ward - n. the place in a hospital where children patients are treated 25earring - n. a piece of jewelry worn on the ear 26necklace - n. a piece of jewelry worn around the neck 27talisman - n. an object believed to bring good luck or to keep its owner safe from harm