Heroes of the Pandemic

By: Kristen Schultz ’98

The tragic spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the lives of every person on the planet, whether directly or indirectly. We in the Lasallian community strive to live each day following the Lasallian motto of Enter to Learn and Leave to Serve. These Lancers have done just that and we thank them for their tremendous contribution.

NATE KOLBECK ’03 moved to New York in 2013 to establish an east coast office for a company which produced videos for technology businesses and artists but he slowly realized that the industry wasn’t for him anymore and began looking for new technologies to focus his attention on. That is when he discovered 3D-printing. He founded his current company 3D Brooklyn in 2015 to research sustainable applications for 3D-printing tech in the Brooklyn area dabbling in different markets before evolving into a product design and prototyping studio for New York City inventor-entrepreneurs. In March 2020, 3D Brooklyn was in the early stages of a large product development project for a client preparing to go to Tokyo for the Summer Olympics. Nate has a second 3D-printing business Loop Lab that focuses on 3D-printing at live events. Loop Lab scored a gig for the entire Olympic Games and they were planning on making the move to Tokyo for a month. Needless to say, that job was cancelled as was all of the product development work due to

COVID-19 related issues. It was then, near the end of March, that Nate heard about open source PPE projects popping up around the world to help make supplies for the frontlines. Nate and his business partner decided to quickly develop their own face shield design which they tested with a few MD friends and job was cancelled as was all the product development to hospitals. They called this project COVID Supplies NYC. 3D Brooklyn started delivering face shields on March 27th and by the end of May they wrapped up the donation project making and delivering over 16,000 face shields to over 250 hospitals and supporting groups. Along the way they raised $60,000 in donations to keep the project going, were awarded a $20,000 COVID-19 Solutions grant from Mozilla and employed a dozen people on the assembly line for six weeks. As of June, Nate reports that 25% of 3D Brooklyn’s normal business is back and trending in the right direction while Loop Lab is still completely paused. 3D Brooklyn is now offering face shields for purchase to businesses preparing to reopen in hopes that this will replace some of their lost revenue but Nate has committed to donating 5% of profits to a local nonprofit, Veterans Rebuilding Life, who will continue donating PPE to those in need in New York City.

CALLY (COSTER) GALLAWAY ’08 always knew she wanted to be in the medical field but it took her a while to find what path to take. While working on her BS in Kinesiology she learned about various lung disorders. Inspired by her sister’s athsma and family friends who suffered from COPD, Cally went on to respiratory school following her graduation from Sacramento State and currently works as a respiratory therapist at Adventist Health + Rideout Hospital in Marysville, CA. When COVID-19 began to take over the United States, Cally knew she had an oath to uphold. Thankfully her hospital in Marysville was not hit very hard but the east coast was drowning in cases. Cally knew she had to support her fellow medical works so she went on social media and began searching for medical travel companies. With the support of her hospital managers she applied for a position on Friday, April 24th and had her flight booked for Boston the following Tuesday, April 28th. She spent over a month working 7pm to 7am a few days a week at Lawrence General Hospital, just north of Boston. The floor patients and ICU’s at Lawrence General were overflowing with Covid patients. The hospital turned the Post Anesthesia Care Unit into an extra ICU for Covid patients where Cally spent most of her shifts. In order to enter the unit Cally needed to put on shoe covers, 2 layers of gloves, a body suit, 2 layers of hair covers, a gas mask, eye wear, and a face shield. Once in the unit, Cally was responsible for managing 12-15 ventilators at once including placing people on life support, taking them off, drawing blood and assisting with CPR. Cally knew the virus was bad, especially on the east coast, but she had no idea it would be as bad as she witnessed. “I’ll never forget the doctors tracking me down and asking ’What should we do?’ They were out of options. Out of

ideas. They were willing to try anything to save lives.” Cally returned home to northern California on May 31st where she quarantined for two weeks before returning to work. She says the experience has forever changed her. “Working a pandemic is something I never thought I’d have to do, and hopefully something I never have to do again. I was challenged mentally, physically, and emotionally. I see death often in my profession but I don’t think anything can prepare you for that much death. Many images I’ll never be able to get out of my head. I’m thankful to be healthy and have an amazing support system of friends and family to come home to. I’ll always remember to say ’I love you’, hug a little longer when I have the chance, forgive a little easier. Life is too short.”

SHELBY MCCRAY ’07 always had a passion for medicine and was set on going to medical school but following her graduation from Northern Arizona University in 2011 she was not prepared for the financial debt med school would involve. Instead, she began working in clinical trial research in the Bay Area, providing non-FDA approved medication to patients who had failed with traditional FDA approved treatments and were looking for alternatives that could be life-changing. Shelby loved the patient care work she was doing and was inspired to go into nursing. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2018 through Samuel Merritt University. She was working as a nurse and had gone back to school to become a family nurse practitioner when the pandemic hit the United States. Within days she was furloughed from her clinical research work and her school closed. Shelby had heard that medical staff were dying because of the stress and exhaustion of COVID and knew she needed to help her fellow healthcare workers. She contacted several staffing agencies that had contracts with FEMA to provide emergency personnel in NYC hospitals that were experiencing critical staff shortages. Shelby’s first assignment was at the Billie Jean Tennis Center which was turned into a FEMA hospital. From there she was reassigned to a level one trauma center in the Bronx where she worked in one of their six intensive care units. She worked every day, seven days a week, 12 hour shifts for two months before she got her first day off. Shelby describes the environment there as “chaotic, frustrating, and incredibly sad but all we could do was keep our heads up and do the best we could with the knowledge we had at the time.” Despite the adversity Shelby was blown away by the tenacity and kindness of her colleagues and the larger community “when we were tired and hungry and crying-they gave us a cheer and a pat on the back to help us keep going.” Following her time in New York, Shelby decided to continue to travel and help in areas hit hard by the pandemic and is currently working at Yuma Regional Medical Center in Arizona which is critically understaffed. “This experience has really opened my eyes to what is important in life. I have been inspired to sell most of my material thingsliving simply allows me to focus my energy on spiritual, mental and physical health. After all, I can’t help others heal if I am not whole myself.”