It’s a pleasure to be home – Dr Sandra Lindsay

Returning home to Jamaica after 18 months of buckling under the pressure on the COVID-19 frontline was an answered prayer for nurse, Dr Sandra Lindsay.

She prayed daily that her life would not be snatched by the virus before she got the chance to be vaccinated.

Lindsay, the first American to be inoculated against COVID-19, is currently on vacation, fulfilling her longing for the national dish, ackee and salt fish.

“It’s a pleasure to be home. My time has been fantastic so far, as it usually is when I come back home,” she said pleasantly during our interview.

The pescatarian had a “wonderful culinary experience” with Chef Alex D’Great, who prepared a fantastic meal for a gathering with friends last Saturday.

A beach lover, she’s looking forward to relaxing and reflecting on Doctor’s Cave Beach in Montego Bay.

EARLY DAYS

Her childhood years were spent in Clarendon, where she grew up in a humble, Christian home.

“My mom and dad were always involved. My grandparents worked hard, and they built this large home so that they could have all their grandchildren around them,” she said, adding that holidays were spent with her parents, but she would always find herself back at grandma and grandpa’s house.

In both homes, education and family were top priorities.

When her mother migrated in 1986, Lindsay and her siblings were in tow.

It was also an excellent opportunity for her to pursue her dreams of becoming a nurse.

A nurse for 27 years and nursing director for half a decade, her passion for the career is quite evident.

She manages over 250 staff members and knows them all by name, as she considers it a sign of respect.

“At the peak of the pandemic, there were 16-hour workdays, seven days a week. I don’t know how I did it. Some days, I didn’t remember the drive home,” she recounted.

Many mornings, she looked at herself in the full-length mirror before making her way down the stairs. She felt like she was going to war and did not know if she would return home.

Lindsay found running to be very helpful when she wanted to clear her head. “Just stamping that pavement, listening to music, going to a place where I could just sit and just let time pass watching a sunset,” she said.

She repeatedly listened to Chronixx’s album, Chronology, and when she wanted to pick the pace up, she switched to soca. The nurse also learned transcendental meditation, which she practised twice daily.

Lindsay had a COVID-19 scare during a period when admissions were increasing, and she had to open up yet another ICU space. She was weak, hot and her legs could not move. She went home after the 13th hour, drank a cup of tea (Jamaican remedy), took a shower and applied white rum to her body. “I’m a sleeper, and I was afraid to close my eyes. I said a prayer, and I said, ‘God, please don’t let me die in here alone’.” She woke up feeling refreshed. Lindsay was COVID negative but positive for exhaustion.

DEDICATED TEAM

During the interview, she couldn’t help but remember the dedication her team had to save the life of a young man in his twenties, with no underlying conditions, who contracted the COVID-19 during travel. He had to be put on a machine that took over the function of his lungs. “There were many times we thought we lost him, calling his family to have them say their last goodbye, but the team never gave up,” she said of their persistence. After two months of being hospitalised, the entire hospital came to the lobby to do a goodbye clap as he reunited with his family. He was still in a fog, one of these long haul symptoms. He didn’t even know what was going on with him,” she shared.

Lindsay has made it her mission to encourage as many people she comes in contact with to get vaccinated. “I don’t want to see you in my ICU or any ICU for that matter, for something that can be prevented,” she remarked.

The critical care nurse hasn’t given much thought to retirement yet, but it may very well entail travelling back and forth between the US and Jamaica.

lifestyle@gleanerjm.com