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Doctors facing covid-19: This is a war zone 1:36
(CNN) - Frank Gabrin, an ER doctor in New Jersey, knew he could catch coronavirus when he came to work to care for patients.
But she still did, and a week after contracting the Gabrin virus, she died in her husband's arms on Tuesday. His loss is a lesson in the importance of caring for people who serve the public, Gabrin's friend Debra Vaselech Lyons said during her conversation with CNN's Chris Cuomo.
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"It is not about the result, you cannot save all the patients, it is about what you do with the result," said Vaselech Lyons, recalling that Gabrin believed in that. "He lost his life unnecessarily because if he had the equipment ... he was a professional, he knew how to protect himself."
"We have to make something good come out of this," he added.
Gabrin's husband Arnold Vargas spoke with Vaselech Lyon about the loss of her husband, but she was barely able to utter words through tears.
The two-time cancer survivor tried to do his best when he contracted the coronavirus, but according to Vaselech Lyon, "it went from being manageable to unmanageable overnight."
Gabrin contracted the virus and approximately a week later he died in Vargas' arms. Paramedics worked for an hour to save him, but he was already gone, Vaselech Lyons said.
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He knew he was putting himself at risk by doing his job, but like other medical professionals, he prepared himself all his life to be on the front line and help people.
What he did not expect was to be on the front line without the equipment he needed.
“It is like asking a soldier to go to the front line and not giving him anything. Nothing to do his job, "insisted Vaselech Lyons.
Doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel across the country face a shortage of personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves. Many are having to reuse single-use items. The shortage not only makes protection difficult, but many states are reporting the lack of respirators and hospital beds needed to treat their patients.
Now, Gabrin's husband is mourning his loss while also suffering from the virus.
"I don't think we are seeing that we have selfish medical workers right now, they are doing what they can even though they are putting themselves and, most importantly, their families at risk as well," said Vaselech Lyons .
Victims
