Corpus Christi nurse to give her 100-year-old great-grandmother the COVID-19 vaccine
A nurse at Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi was able to administer a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to her 100-year-old great-grandmother this month.
Victoria Cantu, who is a registered nurse in the hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit, was one of many Driscoll staff who volunteered at a vaccination site, the American Bank Center, the arena on the city bay.
GOOD NEWS: FDA Says Single Dose Injection of J&J Prevents Severe COVID
Other volunteers at the site ensured that 100-year-old Maria Gaytan was referred to her great-granddaughter’s vaccination post for her first dose.
“I was nervous about stinging my abuelita, but I felt so lucky and blessed to be able to give her this gift,” Cantu said. “I knew what this meant to us and our family, and I felt immense happiness.”
Cantu is one of Gaytan’s 45 great-grandchildren. Gaytan, who turned 100 two weeks before his first vaccination, has eight children, 18 grandchildren and two great-great-grandsons.
“We all got together for every pre-COVID party and had her big birthdays every year since she was 95,” Cantu said. “This has been a very confusing year for her and we know she wants to get back to normal and see the faces of her family.”
Gaytan said she was nervous about getting the vaccine, but when one of her daughters – Esther Gaytan, 71 – died from COVID-19 and complications from pneumonia, she suffered understood the importance of getting vaccinated.
“The vaccine was truly a gift of life,” Gaytan said. “Everyone was so polite and friendly and everything was so organized.