HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - A Hollywood community showed their appreciation for a local healthcare worker as she returns to the front lines in the fight against COVID-19.
Shira Frietag had been off work for two weeks for Passover and is now returning to Memorial Regional Hospital.
Through tears, Frietag said, “It’s amazing. Oh, my God, I’m sorry, it’s the community that I live in. I don’t have words.”
Cars honked and neighbors cheered as she left her house for the morning.
She gave advice to locals in order to help contain the spread.
“Continue to stay home. Don’t go to beaches, please, because we’re going to work. We don’t have a choice. Yes, we did sign up for this, and it’s a pleasure that we’re going for the families and being there for the families that can’t be at the hospital right now, but I’m leaving my family,” she said.
Kids held up signs of encouragement for Frietag.
Danielle Lustman, Frietag’s closest friend, said, “We want our kids to be witnesses to people like Shira and healthcare workers that are doing this and sacrificing their lives.”
Frietag’s husband Mark said, “You know it’s tough times, but she’s definitely making the best of everything going on. I still applaud her for going out there and doing what she’s got to do.”
Frietag’s mother, Linda Melcer, pulled up and showed her love for her daughter, who she hasn’t seen in weeks because of social distancing.
Melcer said, “She’s my daughter. I was a nurse a long time ago, but she’s living the legacy.”
Frietag thanked everyone, saying, “Thank you, everybody, and thank you everyone for supporting the medical community, everyone that works in a hospital. It’s not just nurses and doctors. We’re all a team. We all need one another to work together, and that’s what this is about. Especially the community.”
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.