"I got you, Doc." – A community of Jeepers lifted this battered anesthesiologist

COVID19 has been unrelenting, taking our patients and taking our colleagues. The virus battered us with fear. It smothered us in N95 masks. It just about broke us. With the onset of a vaccinated population––we were beginning to crawl out of the solitary cocoon of "Social distancing"––we found ourselves isolated yet again, in a city wholly unprepared to clear ten inches of snowfall over two days.

In my midtown neighborhood, you couldn't see where the curb started and the street began. The anxiety set in. How was I going to get to work tomorrow? How was I going to take care of patients?

A colleague emailed me about a Facebook group called Midsouth Jeep Club. These were private volunteers, refusing money, offering to take healthcare workers to and from hospitals at all hours all over the city.

I reached out to the group on Wednesday night and within thirty minutes Judd Carey, a fellow Midtowner, messaged me; "I got you, doc."

I got you, doc.

And he did. He transported me safely back and forth to the hospital as if it were nothing. As if waking at 0530 to drive on treacherous roads with a stranger was nothing. It wasn’t “nothing”. It was everything. It meant we are a community that takes care of one another. We are not alone.

After all the misery and stress of the past year, his efforts meant so much. To know that such generous, caring souls are there and want to help. That we hospital staff––doctors, nurses, techs, pharmacists, janitorial staff, food services–– are seen and appreciated and deserving of assistance. I'm telling you, it meant the world to me. I will forever remember the kindness of these strangers in times of utter need. It has lifted my spirits. Thank you, Judd and Midsouth Jeepers. From the bottom of my heart.