Baltimore Nurse Melissa Wesby Talks About Working On COVID Frontlines, Introduces VP Kamala Harris' During Visit
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A Baltimore nurse and mother of three introduced Vice President Kamala Harris during her visit to the M&T Bank Stadium mass vaccination site.
Melissa Wesby, who lives in Baltimore's Patterson Park neighborhood with her husband of 13 years and their three children: Olivia, Mitchell and Lydia, is a New Orleans, Louisiana native who came up here to work in Maryland's health care industry in 2007.
Wesby worked at the Johns Hopkins Bayview hospital and has been on the frontlines of the covid-19 pandemic helping patients. But she's also offered fellowship, helping hospitalized patients make Zoom calls to their families or stopping to listen to their concerns.
"She goes to work every day to make a difference in the lives of patients, and is one of the people who has been shining, the shiny light during this dark hour," said Sen. Chris Van Hollen.
As a four-year breast cancer survivor Wesby said she was thrilled to learn President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris are prioritizing cancer research.
"My mother is a cancer survivor, too," she said.
As a registered nurse, Wesby has seen what this pandemic has done to Americans first hand. She works with pulmonary and cardiac patients at Johns Hopkins.
"We care for patients who are currently COVID positive and who are still having symptoms of COVID thereafter," Wesby said. "My colleagues and I have worked tirelessly."
She said despite their difficult work, she tries to remain positive.
"Over 200 million vaccines have been administered," Wesby said. "Families can visit their loved ones. It's been so hard and now we're able to have visitors come in and just rub feet and hands -- and it's so beautiful."
"Vice President Kamala Harris embodies the American dream," she added. "Raised by parents from different parts of the world, she has dedicated her life to public service as a history-making vice president. She has worked closely with President Biden to deliver for working families. These first 100 days, the Biden Harris administration gives light and hope that better days are here."
The full press conference is below:
Speaking with WJZ's Max McGee a day after the events, she said she wears her emotions on her sleeve just as proudly as the scrubs on her back. Serving our community for 14 years, each connection she feels is suddenly lost during the pandemic. A bond she felt Thursday moved her to tears - introducing Vice President Kamala Harris at M&T Bank Stadium's Vaccination site.
"I was so in my feelings," Wesby says with a smile. "I was just trying to calm myself, take a deep breath and calling on the ancestors."
She's a breast cancer survivor working on the Covid unit while being a Mother of 3. Wesby moved here from New Orleans in 2007 with her husband. To meet such a powerful woman of color was simply overwhelming.
"The excitement my children had, the excitement my Mother had, My Mom, my high school," she says as she pauses to wipe tears off her face. "It was just a beautiful moment. She was so human!" Harris was in Baltimore marking her 100th day in office.
Her visit was after President Joe Biden spoke to Congress Wednesday night.
It was a connection she will treasure for a lifetime..
"I was there to introduce her. It's so beyond me," she says. "It was like out of body. I still cant believe it."
