EVERYDAY HEROES Kristy Leahy and her parents Jim & Karen Whitehead
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ou know what they say—the family that essentials together, stays together. Such was the case for the Whitehead family whose daughter Kristy was on the frontlines of the pandemic as an ICU nurse at Advent Health Shawnee Mission. “She would talk to me frequently on the phone and I could tell at times she was exhausted and at times rather down and heartbroken due to the increase in deaths on her ICU unit,” says her mom Karen. “[Kristy] found herself being stretched from being the great nurse she is to taking the place of family who were not allowed visitation at such an extreme time.” Karen, meanwhile, was a physical therapist working mainly in senior facilities under strict lockdown. With so many people depending on her, she was determined to be of service—despite an ever-evolving healthcare landscape. “Things at work were confusing. Some days my temperature was taken up to five times a day. It seemed like each and every day would bring different information and guidelines that changed how and what we needed to do,” she says. “Unfortunately, in attempts to keep them safe
FROM TIRELESS FIRST RESPONDERS TO AN ENTIRE BRIGADE OF ESSENTIAL WORKERS, PEOPLE CAME TOGETHER LIKE NO OTHER WHEN THE PANDEMIC HIT KANSAS CITY IN LATE MARCH. WE SCOURED THE METRO TO FIND HEROIC FOLKS WITH STORIES YOU MAY NOT OF HEARD. WE’RE SHARING JUST A FEW OF THEIR STORIES WORDS BY
Michael Mackie
Roy Anderson Ryan Maybee Kristy Leahy
JULY 2020
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