♪ ♪
(phone ringing)
(phone connects,
nurse speaking)
>> JESSICA CARO: Okay.
>> NURSE: I'll let you see her,
and then I'll just kind of
put you by her ear.
>> CARO:
It's just been unreal.
At one point,
I felt like my heart
was just gonna give out on me.
>> NURSE: If you don't feel
comfortable,
or you'd like to stop,
just let me know.
>> CARO: Okay. 
>> CARO: I think the worst of it
is not being by her side.
Just getting glimpses.
It's just not fair
that that's what this virus
has left us with.
♪ ♪
>> WOMAN: One, two, three.
>> ALL:
♪ Happy birthday to you ♪
>> CARO: We thought 2020
was just going to be
a great year.
It's a new decade.
I was planning on graduating
from my bachelors in nursing.
My son was going to graduate
from eighth grade
and have his confirmation.
And my daughter was turning 16.
And my mom,
she's going to be turning 80.
We had every intention
of making it a good one.
I remember my daughter
getting sick
right around March 9.
She couldn't get out of bed,
she couldn't
walk to the bathroom by herself
without assistance.
The first time that I got
a thermometer on her,
I almost dropped it,
because it was 105.
Not 100.5, it was 105.
(phone keyboard clicking)
(message sends)
(message sends)
(messages sending)
I asked a doctor if she felt
like my daughter
would possibly be a candidate
for the testing,
and she said, "Well,
it doesn't hurt to try."
>> MAN (on phone recording):
Thank you for calling
the New York State COVID-19
hotline.
>> CARO: So there was a phone
number that I had that I called.
>> MAN (on phone recording):
If you would like to request
a test for COVID-19, press 1.
(phone beeps)
>> CARO:
And this man was, like,
"Has your daughter traveled
to China?"
I'm, like, "No."
He's, like,
"Well, has she had contact
with somebody that's positive?"
I'm, like, "Well, I can't,
"I can't confirm that,
you know.
We don't know."
And the last question was,
"Is she short of breath?"
And I'm, like, "Well, not
currently, but she's very sick."
And the man tells me,
"Well, if she's not short
of breath,
she doesn't qualify, I'm sorry,"
and hangs up the phone.
At that point, I was furious.
>> REPORTER: New York and
California and Illinois
are in lockdown mode.
>> REPORTER:
The state's 19 million residents
are being told to stay at home
as much as possible.
>> CARO: During this time, I
tried to stay away from my mom.
She was a primary caregiver
for my grandmother,
who is 102 and has dementia,
and my aunt, who's disabled.
My mom had been caring for them
for about seven years
in the apartment where I grew up
in, in Riverdale.
I said, "I'm just going to stay
away from you guys for a while,"
until this kind of blows over,"
hoping that it would.
>> REPORTER: Concern over
anticipated shortages of food
and other supplies...
>> REPORTER: Panicked consumers
rushed to stock up on items
they fear
could soon be hard to reach.
(messages sending)
♪ ♪
>> CARO: So my daughter,
I mean,
she got better.
And then I get a phone call from
my mom that my aunt is ill.
So I told her call,
call the ambulance,
call 911.
(phone buttons beeping "911")
Every time we called,
they would kind of tell us
the same thing.
Like, "Listen, the hospitals
are just overwhelmed.
"She's sick,
but she's not that sick.
"We can take her,
but she may not come back,
because this is how bad it is
over there."
Couple of days go by,
and my mom says, "Listen,
she's very ill,
she's gonna die on me."
(ambulance sirens blaring)
At that point, my mom,
while I'm on the phone with her,
she said,
"I have to tell you something."
She said, "I have a fever."
And I said, "No, Mami,
please don't,
don't, don't tell me that."
And she goes,
"Yeah, I have a fever.
And I started coughing
and I'm scared."
And I said,
"Well, Mom, I'm coming over."
She said, "Absolutely not.
"I don't want you to get
exposed, you need to stay away.
I'm sorry, you know,
but I can't have you come here."
♪ ♪
(rain falling steadily)
I went to her door
and knocked on her door.
But she, she didn't open
the door.
She was behind the peephole.
We basically were, like,
"I love you so much.
And I'm so sorry I can't see
you, I can't hug you."
Little did I know
that at that point,
she was starting to become
short of breath.
She was kind of keeping that
from me.
When I call her in the morning,
the home attendant picks up
and she says,
"The paramedics are here
for your mother."
I almost dropped the phone.
She was actually
fighting the paramedics,
she didn't want to go.
Because she didn't want to leave
my grandmother alone.
I told my mom, "Don't worry,
I'll go over there.
I'll stay with her tonight."
My mom came to this country
at the age of 19.
She worked for Scholastic
in printing services,
and then went on to work
for MetLife for 30 years.
Once I had my children,
she decided to retire
to help me raise them
while I went to nursing school.
The one time that I spoke to her
on the phone,
she was very out of breath,
like, it was, like,
her running a marathon
and trying to speak a word.
At that point, we're just
conversing by text.
I, I had text her at some point
in the evening,
and she hadn't answered me back,
so I text her again, you know,
"Is everything okay?
You're not answering me."
And I text her again
and I don't hear back.
And I, like, now started
getting worried.
I get a text from her...
Garbled gibberish,
and then it was, "Call me.
Call me now."
The doctor was there,
and the doctor is telling me,
"Unfortunately, at this point,
we need to intubate."
(nurse and Caro speaking
on phone)
>> CARO: The hospital was
kind enough to be able
to Facetime her with me.
>> CARO: Okay, thank you,
I appreciate it.
Thank you so much.
>> NURSE: So...
>> CARO: Hi, Mami.
Hi, Mama, do you hear me?
Mami, I miss you so much.
Hi, Mama.
(crying):
Hi, Mama, I miss you.
I need you to get better, Mami,
okay?
Mami, we miss you so much...
>> CARO: In my heart, I know
she was able to hear me,
but it was hard
to see her like that.
>> CARO (crying):
I love you so much.
You're so strong
and you're fighting.
I know you are,
I know...
>> CARO: Um, I told her,
"Mami, you have to fight."
(crying): "You have to fight,
"you have to keep fighting
for me,
and you have to fight
for the kids."
>> CARO: Mamalinda,
I love you so much.
Mommy...
(rain falling)
♪ ♪
>> CARO: Not being able to be
there and hold her hand
and let her hear my voice
has just been the worst of all
of this.
♪ ♪
(lighter clicks)
(people talking in background,
celebrating)
>> ALL:
♪ Happy birthday, dear Annie ♪
♪ ♪
