Tulsa Hospital Creates Special Gifts For Families Of COVID-19 Patients

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 550,000 Americans since March 2020, including 7,800 Oklahomans.

Claude Stiles, 90, is one of those who succumbed to the virus. Before testing positive for COVID-19 in December, Claude's granddaughter, Elissa Stiles, said he was healthy with an incredibly strong heart. "He would go out and mow 2.5 acres and chop wood," she said. Elissa showed News On 6 a recent photo of her grandfather in front of a stack of wood with an ax in hand and a big Okie smile on his face. "We always joked about how he didn't have a 90-year-old heart."

Weeks after getting together for the Thanksgiving holiday, Claude tested positive for COVID-19. He went to a Tulsa hospital where he received treatment but went home a few days later. However, Claude ended up going back to the hospital a second time, within a week of returning home from his first visit. Elissa said he showed signs of improvement that second time but said the virus took a quick and sudden toll.

"We were all so hopeful for the New Year. He was able to sit up and eat food on the side of his hospital bed. We were really feeling hopeful, but then it was January 2 we got the call. We weren't expecting it at all."

That call was the hospital; her Grandpa Claude was losing his fight with COVID-19. Elissa and her family, including her father, sister uncle, and cousin, rushed to Tulsa's Hillcrest South on January 3 to say their final goodbyes. Elissa was able to tell her grandfather how she had always looked up to him. "I told him I loved him so much and that I couldn't wait to see him again."

Elissa and her family were in the room as Claude took his final breath on a Sunday. She said her grandfather's transition was both peaceful and quiet. "The hospital did so much to give us everything we needed when we were grieving; I'm forever grateful to them."

Soon after his death, Elissa and her family received a special, unexpected gift from the nursing staff: an EKG of Claude's heartbeat.

Amy Nichols works as an ICU nurse at Hillcrest South, the hospital where Claude died. One of her fellow nurses, Hannah, came up with the idea to put COVID patients' heartbeats in little bottles last August. Since then, Amy and the other ICU nurses have made the bottles for several families who have lost a loved one to the virus. Amy does not know how many she has put together but estimates at least 20.

The process is short, taking about 5 minutes, but its impact lasts much longer. "When we know a patient is going pass or make them comfort care, we will print off an EKG strip of their heartbeat, and we will put it in an empty bottle, seal it, and put a ribbon on it so they can carry it around with them," Amy explained.

Elissa keeps her bottle at home on a bookshelf. When she looks at it, she's instantly reminded of her grandfather's strong, loving heart. "It takes away the pain in a lot of ways to have this physical reminder of the best part of him."

Elissa told News On 6 how the gift inspired her eulogy at her grandfather's funeral in January. She compared the little strip of paper to the strong heart her Grandpa Claude had before his death when he was able to mow several acres and chop wood. "Having something to hold to remember him by is really an indescribable comfort."