Retired Atlanta Public Schools educator dies of COVID-19
ATLANTA - A second retired Atlanta Public School educator died of COVID-19 on Easter Sunday.
Dorothy McGirt, 92, had been living at the Arbor Terrace retirement community off Cascade Road. McGirt's family says they received a call from a facility's staffer saying the former David T. Howard teacher had a spiked fever.
The next day, according to the family, that fever and other symptoms got so bad for the former APS teacher that the staff at Arbor Terrace rushed her to the hospital. That is when McGiet's neice Lana Perry realized the gravity of the situation. She says the doctors and nurses at Emory Midtown tried to save the 92-year-old's life.
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"They tried everything possible to work with her. They mentioned trials but unfortunately, some things she didn't qualify for," Perry recalled.
Ms. Perry says Arbor Terrace did not even call to check on the family while her aunt was in the hospital. The Retirement community in southwest Atlanta has made headlines for COVID-19 cases.
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The numbers are staggering. At least nine residents are dead, 48 of the 61 residents have tested positive. That's nearly 80 percent of all the residents at the facility.
The Perry family believes Arbor Terrace did not handle the crisis properly.
" It was just excuse, after excuse , after excuse. And no they didn't, to me , give us the pertaint information in a timely manner, " Ms. Perry insisted.
The family wants their aunt to be remembered as a educator who touched many lives, was a devoted member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, Inc. , loved to travel internationally with her husband Dr. Paul McGirt and didn't deserve to die alone, like she did.
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"Where it tore us apart. Was that we were not able to be with her to love her to support her to pray with her. To hold her hand and reassure her that she was loved," Ms. Perry reflected.
Unfortunately for the Perry family the heartbreak doesn't end here. They got word Monday that a 90-year-old cousin in Philadelphia has also tested positive for COVID-19. Their pray now is the outcome will be much better.
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