Saluting A Hero: Dr. Lorna M. Breen

Dr. Lorna M. Breen courageously cared for each patient who arrived at NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital in Manhattan. She rose the ranks to become a highly respected E.R. doctor and the medical director of the emergency department — a unit that’s been struck particularly hard during this coronavirus outbreak.

Dr. Breen was in the trenches, working on the front lines, and even contracted COVID-19 herself at one point. Yet, she continued to dedicate her life to medicine and the service of others, positively touching and saving lives with her daring leadership, unwavering dedication, and radiant smile.

Dr. Lorna M. Breen passed away on Sunday — by suicide. She was 49. Her life gone too soon, her legacy cut too short.

“She tried to do her job, and it killed her,” Dr. Breen’s father, Dr. Philip C. Breen, told The New York Times. In a statement to the paper, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center said: “Dr. Breen is a hero who brought the highest ideals of medicine to the challenging front lines of the emergency department.”

Another colleague added: “Dr. Breen was always looking out for others, making sure her doctors had protective equipment or whatever else they needed. Even when she was home recovering from COVID-19, she texted her co-workers to check in and see how they were doing.”

Dr. Breen’s heartbreaking story illustrates the dire reality of this virus as well as the physical and psychological toll it is having on front lines professionals. Words can never fully capture the depths of death, but it brings a spotlight to how fragile life is.

The power of kindness is needed more than ever today. We all have a role to play in combatting and overcoming these extraordinarily difficult times. Each of us can make a difference by how we live, how we listen, and how we love. Extend your grace with compassion toward others. Remember, people do not always need advice. Sometimes they just need a hand to hold, an ear to listen and a heart to understand them.

There are millions of faces from COVID-19 — lives and legacies from all walks of life that have been devastated and upended. There are stories that will never be heard and told. While we live in a world driven by data, we must not become immune to the death toll. We must not dehumanize another person’s suffering just because we might not be directly impacted.

Life is precious and is more than just about us. We must have a more profound conviction to practice empathy toward others. We never honestly know how people feel in their quietest and darkest hours. Time will continue to tell the post-traumatic stress that ensues from these challenging days. COVID-19 is having a destructive impact on our physical bodies and mental health. Advocating and supporting this crisis on the body and mind cannot wait.

No matter our occupations and titles, we must all do our part. We can influence the consciousness of humanity to help cultivate better and brighter days. The best place to inspire a person is in his or her soul. Real conversations and interactions are always sprinkled with the silent languages of love and kindness.

So ask yourself, how will you show up today for someone who is fighting for their tomorrow? Never abandon compassion and love or underestimate the power of a kind word, touch, gesture, and smile. People will always remember how you made them feel. You just might be saving someone’s life who is suffering in silence.

Dr. Lorna M. Breen was a hero and tragically passed away a hero — but heroes are human too. We are all fighting some battle another person knows absolutely nothing about. If we do not accomplish anything else with the time we have left, let us commit to being kind to others and to ourselves.

It’s the least we can do to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Lorna M. Breen.

If you or someone you know are having thoughts of suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.

A Letter to Our Healthcare Professionals on COVID-19

No matter if you are cleaning the hospital facility, taking care of a patient, or performing a life-saving operation, we thank you.

P.S. If you are in search of a book recommendation, our team at The Daily Coach highly recommends When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chödrön. How can we live our lives when everything seems to fall apart—when we are continually overcome by fear, anxiety, and pain? The answer, Pema Chödrön suggests, might be just the opposite of what you expect. Here, in her most beloved and acclaimed work, Pema shows that moving toward painful situations and becoming intimate with them can open up our hearts in ways we never before imagined. Drawing from traditional Buddhist wisdom, she offers life-changing tools for transforming suffering and negative patterns into habitual ease and boundless joy.

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