Houston nurse shares biggest fear after helping in COVID-19 fight in NYC

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

When a local nurse saw the images of her fellow health care workers overwhelmed by the coronavirus, she knew she had to act. ABC13's TJ Parker has her story plus the important message she wants to share.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A nurse said it was a tough call to make, but the right one, when she left Houston for New York City to help battle the coronavirus.

"I was just watching what was happening on the news, knowing that I could help, and I was like, 'I can't stay here. I have to find a way to go,'" said Jessie Guercio.

She was a nurse for more than eight years and is now a nurse practitioner at a clinic in Liberty.

When Guercio got to New York, she said the normally noisy streets were eerily quiet. But inside Woodhull Hospital, where she worked, things were busier than ever.

"You kind of got in your head a little, like, 'Oh my God, I'm exposing myself, I'm knowingly exposing myself,'" recalled Guercio.

Guercio was there for 40 days. Of those days, she had four of them off. She was doing exhausting, but important work alongside the many healthcare workers in New York.

After her time there, she decided to return to Houston to be with family. She is under a mandated two-week quarantine, but has tested negative for the virus. Guercio is sharing what she experienced there with everyone in Houston, and wants people to know there is still a long road ahead.

"I don't want what happened there to happen here," said Guercio.