St. Luke's patient care assistant on ventilator in ICU fighting COVID-19

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A St. Luke's patient care assistant is now on a ventilator inside Houston Methodist's ICU fighting COVID-19.

Alex Martinez has worked for St. Luke's for the last 11 years, according to his family. His mother and sister, Patricia Diaz and Nancy Zavala, respectively, asked Houston and beyond for prayers.

They described the 32-year-old patient as a fun-loving and compassionate man.

"He loves his patients. He loves to take care of his patients and comfort them," Zavala told Eyewitness News on Easter Sunday. "I'm very thankful to the nurses and doctors at Methodist Hospital that are taking care of him because they're making sure he has that care as well."

Zavala said the hardest part of the ordeal is not being able to be with her brother. She saw him via video chat this afternoon.

They started a fundraiser on Facebook to help Alex pay for medical costs and are hopeful he'll recover soon.

"Today is Easter Sunday and we wish he was here with us right now," said Zavala. "Instead, he's fighting for his life. It's very heartbreaking for us. We want him home. We don't know at this time what's going to happen. All we can do is maintain the faith."

Diaz said she hopes everyone will lift her son up in prayer.

"I love my son. I want him to come home," said Diaz. "This is very overwhelming for us."

Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center released the following statement:

"While we cannot comment on suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases due to patient privacy laws, we want to assure the community that we are strictly following all protocols and practices recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to compassionately care for patients while keeping our caregivers and staff safe. We thank our community for their continued support for our front line staff during this time."

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