In her room at a Georgia nursing home, Bessie Burden was so concerned about the coronavirus that she wore a mask — sometimes two — even when she slept.
With the home closed to visitors because of the pandemic, Burden's daughters worried about their spunky 77-year-old mother, who decades earlier had survived a stroke and had persevered despite heart disease, diabetes and a leg amputation.
When Burden told them by phone that she felt ill and was being treated with supplemental oxygen — and her roommate had been taken away by ambulance days earlier — they became alarmed.
A call with a nurse who sounded confused about Burden's care increased their sense of urgency. The daughters called an ambulance to take their mother to a hospital.