Please watch both videos to give you a sense of COVID and the impact it has on family and friends
By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
It really brings home the risk doctors, nurses, paramedics and front-line workers incur as they do the up-close and vital work that has been our lifeline during the COVID-19 pandemic, when sometimes the risk turns out the wrong way.
That is what happened to Northumberland Paramedic Joni Krampert about four weeks ago.
It was Sunday, April 25, when she went to the Northumberland Hills Hospital emergency room because of difficulty breathing. They admitted her to the ICU and, within 24 hours, she was diagnosed with COVID-19. She was intubated and put on a ventilator.
When her condition stabilized, she was transferred on April 29 to Peterborough Regional Health Centre for long-term supportive care. Her condition quickly deteriorated two days later, and she was rushed to Toronto General Hospital for specialized intensive care.
While there, Joni was diagnosed with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, a kind of respiratory failure characterized by a rapid onset of widespread lung inflammation. She remained on life support.
She is now continuing her courageous fight at Mt. Sinai Hospital, with the further complication of Sepsis – a potentially life-threatening condition that occurs when the body’s immune response to an infection damages its own tissue. She is in an induced coma, intubated and on life support.
Her best friend, Northumberland Paramedic Megan Graham, offered the latest update.
“They literally tell us it’s hour by hour,” Graham said Friday.
“That’s the generic answer we get,” Joni’s daughter Katherine agreed.
“They say she’s fine right now, but her condition could change by the hour. They don’t give anything, absolutely no time lines of when my mom will be able to wake up or get better.”
Joni’s family knew the risks she was taking, and her family were somewhat reassured by how vigilant she was.
“She is the type of person who follows all the protocols, all the government directives on social distancing, masks, social gatherings,” Katherine said. She can only surmise that her mother’s precautions were no match for the new more communicable variants.
Megan has stepped up, along with Katherine, to help the family with travel expenses and Joni’s eventual recovery costs with a GoFundMe page.
The page features a photo from a happier time – the day of Katherine’s wedding to Brython Robson. The rest of Joni’s family – her husband Tom and sons Matthew and Michael – are in the picture. Their beloved husky Kai stayed home that day.
Megan saw the kids grow up. She and Joni joined Northumberland Paramedics at the same time in 2004, fresh from their training at Durham and Loyalist colleges (respectively), and became fast friends. They have worked together within the local paramedic force since 2006. They have both received Lightning Bolt awards for successful defibrillation events, with Joni actually getting two or three of the awards.
“She is just such a good person. She spent her life helping people – just the kindest human being,” Megan said.
“My mom is just a family person,” Katherine added.
“She will do anything for her family. She’s always the first person to offer a helping hand, and she will be there when you need her at the drop of a dime.
“I can talk to her about anything. She’s like the most non-judgmental, most caring, compassionate, empathetic person – and she’s like that with everyone. She’s so kind, not a mean bone in her body, and she makes everyone feel comfortable. She’s always so worried about other people more than she worries about herself.”
Joni was always that person, even before she was a paramedic, her daughter said. That was the perfect profession for her.
“She always put other people first. She is so passionate about her job and caring for others, especially for those in need of care.”
It is only in recent days that her mother has been allowed visitors, so her dad has been at her bedside. Two people will be designated as her visitors, so probably one of her brothers will be the other designated visitor. Thereafter, one or the other will be permitted to visit every other day – Person A on Monday, Person B on Wednesday, Person A on Friday, Person B on Sunday and so on.
Katherine cannot be that person by herself because she is expecting her first child this fall.
“Joni was so excited,” Graham said – “her first grandchild.”
As they wait and pray for her recovery to begin, the GoFundMe page has set a $20,000 goal for the family.
If you’d like to help, you can make your donation at https://ca.gofundme.com/f/supporting-joni-kramperts-fight-against-covid19?utm_campaign=p_cp_url&utm_medium=os&utm_source=customer
