{"id":11297,"date":"2020-07-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=11297"},"modified":"2020-07-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T00:00:00","slug":"","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=11297","title":{"rendered":"Karen Smith, nurse"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Karen Smith, a longtime Houston nurse of more than three decades, died on July 29, 2020, from COVID-19.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

When not working, Karen volunteered at a local fire department and that earned her a special farewell.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Smith was wife to Harvie and mother to Meghan and Christopher. Her best friend, Colleen Lamb, choked back tears as she said simply, “I’m gonna miss her.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n

The two met 12 years ago when Lamb started working at the same medical clinic.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

“We lived three blocks apart and never knew it,” Lamb said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

The two became friends fast. Both volunteered as EMTs at the Southeast Volunteer Fire Department. Lamb's dad founded the department decades ago. Smith's son and husband have both been volunteers, too.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

“We started running the rehab unit, which was an old ambulance that had been converted,” Lamb said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

That meant delivering drinks and food to firefighters at scenes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Smith didn't work with COVID-19 patients. She was a triage nurse at a private clinic. A fever in early July prompted her to get tested for the virus. She was positive. Her family said she had no pre-existing medical conditions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

“We believed she was going to be OK, as thousands of people have been,” Lamb said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

But about a week after her diagnosis, the 56-year-old was hospitalized at Houston Methodist Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. Three weeks later, on July 29, she died. That night, dispatchers made her last call for service.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

“Last call for EMT Karen Smith. May her sweet soul rest in peace.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Lamb said it was very emotional. The call gave her chills and made the hair on the back of her neck stood up.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

“I was sure to tell her family … That they knew to turn the radio on and listen,” Lamb said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

The two colleagues were nearly inseparable. Both nurses wore their masks daily. Lamb said they carpooled together daily for nearly 12 years. This summer, they both wore their masks while in the car.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

KHOU*11<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/p>

<\/p>\n \n \n

<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Karen Smith, a longtime Houston nurse of more than three decades, died on July 29, 2020, from COVID-19. When not working, Karen volunteered at a local fire department and that earned her a special farewell. Smith was wife to Harvie and mother to Meghan and Christopher. Her best friend, Colleen Lamb, choked back tears as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[48,7019,15],"tags":[1051,114,8051,113,792,6710,7165,6709,8507,6224,8506,6434,6435],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/wp-content\/uploads\/imageholder\/uploads\/Karen_Smith.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6959,"url":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=6959","url_meta":{"origin":11297,"position":0},"title":"Karen Cashin Carmello, Nurse","date":"April 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Karen Cashin Carmello \u2013 a Licensed Practical Nurse in Long Island, New York \u2013 passed away after suffering from COVID-19. Karen was 56 years old. 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The Lodi News-Sentinel first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Medics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8213,"url":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=8213","url_meta":{"origin":11297,"position":2},"title":"Karen Figueroa Rodr\u00edguez, Paramedic","date":"May 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Karen Figueroa Rodr\u00edguez \u2013 a Paramedic at Hospital Carlos Van Buren, Valpara\u00edso, Chile \u2013 passed away after suffering from COVID-19. It was reported on 11 May, 2020. Karen was 40 years old. The worker worked for 15 years at the institution.\u00a0\u201cKaren gave herself entirely to the attention of\u00a0her parents, infected\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Chile"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5487,"url":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=5487","url_meta":{"origin":11297,"position":3},"title":"Ate Wilma Banaag, Nurse","date":"May 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Ate Wilma Banaag \u2013 a Nurse at Watford General Hospital, Watford, England \u2013 passed away after suffering from COVID-19. Nurse Ate Wilma Banaag worked at Watford General Hospital for almost two decades, after arriving in the UK from the Philippines in January 2001. A fundraising page set up in her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Medics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7579,"url":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=7579","url_meta":{"origin":11297,"position":4},"title":"Marielle De Bruhl, Nurse","date":"April 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Marielle De Bruhl \u2013 a Nurse at Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden- passed away after suffering from COVID-19. It was reported on 29 April, 2020. Marielle was 39 years old. Marielle DeBruhl previously worked as a hairdresser but chose a few years ago to retrain and educate as a nurse. After\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Medics"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7724,"url":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=7724","url_meta":{"origin":11297,"position":5},"title":"Nahdezhda Divak, Nurse","date":"March 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Nahdezhda Divak \u2013 a Nurse at Regional Clinical Hospital, Kaliningrad, Russia \u2013 passed away after suffering from COVID-19. It was reported on 5 March 2020. Nahdezhda was 65 years old. For more than 20 years, Nadezhda Aleksandrovna worked with the department of pulmonology. 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