The coronavirus continues to take far too many lives in our country. At the same time, millions of Americans are working hard to keep the country going when most people are stuck in lockdown.
Truckers, nurses, mail carriers, grocery workers – the list can be made very long when it comes to the heroes who are vital to our communities right now.
Leilani Jordan, 27, from Maryland was one of these everyday heroes who went to work so that ordinary people would have a chance to cope with this horrible situation.
When the corona pandemic exploded, the grocery clerk insisted on going to her job at Giant Food in Largo, a few miles outside Washington.
According to her mother, Leilani did this to help the elderly and make sure they got their groceries. Leilani, who had cerebral palsy, was dealing with her own challenges – but she was determined to help the most vulnerable in her community.
“It’s just crazy here to work … but somebody’s got to do it,” Jordan said, according to her mother, Zenobia Shepherd. “I’ve got to help the older people.”
“She was doing everything for them: Helping them put their groceries in their walkers, helping them get into lifts,” Shepherd said.
Unfortunately, Leilani became ill last month.
She made her final day of work on March 16 and was later hospitalized after being infected by the coronavirus. According to her mom, Leilani only stopped going to work when she could no longer breathe.
Giant Food officials said that the store was made aware that she was sick on March 28. After a few weeks of fighting, Leilani died last week, according to her family.
Just before she passed away, Leilani was intubated and could not speak. As her mom saw the EKG monitor flatline and heard the doctors declare her daughter brain dead, the devastated mother whispered some words into her daughter’s thick, curly braids.
“I love you. Mommy loves you. Angel loves you,” she said according to Washington Post.
Leilani couldn’t answer her mom, but she had a recorded her last goodbyes to her loved ones before she died.
When Leilani’s stepfather went through her things after she died, her found her phone.
“She (had taken) her password off of her phone,” so it wasn’t locked, he told CNN.
Last message to family members
He then found a heart-wrenching message.
“She made a video saying goodbye to all of us, and wished everyone the best,” he said.
“She told us bye; her sisters, (and her service dog) Angel, bye; and all her friends.
“She told them, you know, ‘See you on the other side.'”
This interview was so sad and painful yet beautiful at the same time. I hope that makes sense!
My heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to the family and God Bless you for still wanting to help others.
Now your family has a beautiful angel looking down over you all and I just can’t imagine what you are going through. This is what a true American hero is all about, RIP Leilani Jordan!
