Filipina nurse leaves her mark as ‘Mama Guia’ in New York hospital

Published May 8, 2020 2:42:00 PM

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 8) – Filipina nurse Maria Guia Cabillon has been dubbed by family and fellow hospital staff in New York as a superhero, where she is fondly called “Mama Guia.”

Cabillon, 63, was the head nurse of Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn up until late April, when she succumbed to the novel coronavirus disease. Her motherly concern for patients and fellow health workers endeared her to the facility, where she has devoted most of her life as an overseas worker.

Even her kids looked up to her as a role model, with daughters April and Fatima Cabillon proudly sharing that all four children studied to become nurses too, taking after their dear mom. Even when she had to leave them as kids, they knew she only wanted to provide them a better life.

“There was one time, I asked her ‘why did you have to leave?’ She told me: ‘it’s okay, we’ll see each other next year…’ I always miss her,” Fatima recounted in a CNN Philippines interview, saying she was only 2 years old when their mother left the country.

“When I grew up, I admired her so much. I always told myself that I want to be like her… My mother will always be my superhero, she sacrificed so much for us – for our family but also for people she has worked with,” she added.

She and April eventually flew to the US and shared an apartment with their mother, when all changed one day. At that time, the outbreak had just started in parts of the country including New York, now the epicenter of infections in the US.

The sisters recounted that their mother went home feeling unwell, but didn’t say anything as she probably did not want them to worry. When things worsened, she was brought to a nearby community hospital where the two worked. She spent two weeks under treatment there.

Then doctors told the Cabillons that their mother had to be transferred to a bigger medical facility as she needed advanced treatment. That was where she spent her last days until she died on April 26, 2020.

What would have been a quiet grieving became a grand tribute for the long-time nurse as Guia’s colleagues organized a short ceremony on May 1 in her honor. As the clock struck 8 p.m. – the start of her usual shift – Mama Guia’s colleagues gathered outside the hospital and released blue and white balloons to thank her for her service.

“I met so many people that night, they have their own special story – like how our mom helped them with their careers, their decision-making for their careers. She loved everyone, all her colleagues from the higher members to her fellow nurses, to the aides,” her daughter April said.

Tributes also poured on Facebook with family and colleagues dubbing her the “angel” of Kings County Hospital.

The Cabillon family has one last duty for their mom: it’s to fulfill her wish to return to Iloilo, her hometown. The pandemic and lockdown rules have made this tricky, but the siblings are patiently waiting.

SOURCE: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/5/8/Mama-Guia-Cabillon-New-York-nurse.html