The nation mourned this week when Dr. Lorna Breen, a New York emergency room doctor who battled to save the lives of coronavirus patients, died by suicide.
Breen's tragic death at age 49 has left her loved ones reeling, and serves as a painful reminder of the mental health challenges facing health care workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jennifer and Corey Feist, Breen's sister and brother-in-law, opened up about their loss to TODAY's Savannah Guthrie in an interview airing Thursday. Jennifer Feist believes that Breen, who battled COVID-19 herself before returning to oversee the emergency room at New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, was tormented by the fact that she couldn't help more people.
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Feist also believes the virus impacted her sister's brain in negative ways.
"When you think about what happened to Lorna, do you believe it was a result of her being sick with COVID or do you believe it was a result of her having to work so hard under these incredibly strenuous conditions?" asked Savannah.
"I know it in my heart that it was both. She had COVID. And I believe that it altered her brain. Then she went back to the most horrific, unimaginable conditions," said Feist. "And for somebody whose life's calling is helping people, and she just couldn't help enough people. And the combination was just untenable."
"She had 12-hour shifts," added Feist. "When she finished, she said, 'I can't leave. Nobody's leaving. I have to stay and help.'"
Feist implored Breen to take better care of herself. But the late doctor was determined to save as many lives as she could.
"I kept telling my sister, you know, 'You can't — if you can't function, you can't help anybody. You have to sleep. You have to rest.' And she just didn't want to give up," said Feist.
"She would not give up. She would not let it break her, which, of course, it did."
If you are in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting ‘Home’ to 741741.
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April 30, 2020 at 05:12AM
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New York ER doctor Lorna Breen's family speaks out about tragic death - TODAY
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