Florence nurse home after working 21 days in coronavirus hot spot

Florence nurse home after working 21 days in coronavirus hot spot

From 1 to 3 in the afternoon.

New information -- a florence nurse is now back at home after spending 21 days in the country's hotspot... new york city.

She was working in an i- c-u... experiencing just how deadly the virus can be first-hand.

Waay31's megan reyna learned what she's taking away from this experience and her message to us back here in alabama.

Megan says:"this is rachel pochop.

This photo was taken more than a week ago by a co-worker after pochop lost three patients in one shift.

She describes this moment as devastating.

Today -- she's back in alabama... getting a much deserved break from the front lines.

Pochop says:"i get being afraid of the virus, but it was the most natural thing of me to say yes."

Natural because pochop has always had a place in her heart to serve others.

Her mother and four out of her five siblings are nurses.

She's currently an e-r nurse at north alabama medical center in florence.

The hospital cut her hours because of coronavirus so she chose to spend that time volunteering in new york city.

Natz she started her 21 day journey on april 5th-- helping the hardest hit area in the united states.

Pochop says:"it feels almost undeserving to be called a hero or to be getting all this praise, because i feel like that's what we're on this earth to do, is to love people, and to serve people."

But she admits it was hard... seeing people of all ages and health backgrounds lose their battle to the virus.

Pochop says:"i don't know how to talk to somebody on a phone and say hey, my name is rachel, i'm calling you so you can say bye to your family via technology, it was like, im sorry, emotional, um just a really hard thing to do and to hear you know because you just hear these people saying goodbye, and it was a very rough thing to do.'

Pochop knew she wasn't alone in this -- often leaning on her co-workers and even strangers.

Pochop says:"3 -5 people would come at the beginning of shift when we were loading the buses, and at the end and hold up signs saying, we love you and thank you, and blowing us kisses through the windows of the bus, and that sometimes was the thing i was looking forward to coming off shift."

And while she knows the country is also facing economic devastation -- she urges people to continue taking precautions by staying socially distant.

Pochop says:"i'd rather beg everyday of my life to feed my family then say goodbye to somebody that way or live through the devastation that this city's lived through, it is horrendous, it is has been the worse thing i've ever seen."

Mr waay 31 news.

Pochop says she is self- quarantining in florence