A Florida nurse stepped in to give a fallen veteran a proper send off after the retired military personnel died of coronavirus earlier this month.
On Monday, Manatee Memorial Hospital shared a photo on Facebook of the touching moment, which shows nurse Marc Kagan saluting the late veteran, whose body was covered by a white cloth.
Of the moment, Kagan, a fellow veteran himself, explained in a statement shared by the hospital that he felt it was his “duty” to honor the late veteran.
“I’m an RN, a retired USAF officer (Flight Nurse) and a retired Firefighter/Deputy Sheriff/Paramedic. I work presently as a Cath Lab nurse and recently doing scanning of hospital personnel going in and out of the COVID-19 Unit.”
Kagan shared, “My heart was broken and saddened when a veteran lost his life to this deadly virus.”
“He didn’t get the military send off with a flag over his brave body. It was with my duty and honor to salute this brave American,” Kagan added.
The identity of the late veteran has not been revealed to the public.
Since news of Kagan’s good deed went viral, a number of people have commended the nurse and spoke out about their own sweet experiences with him.
“Thank you!! We have met Marc several times walking the ground floor hallway to Pediatric Therapy and he always says hi and often talks to my daughter and I. He has a great personality and always leaves us smiling. I had no idea about his background. This is so honorable and genuine and I thank him as well as I am sure the family of this Vet do too. Thank you!” social media user Kristy Kall Gordon commented on the Facebook.
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“Marc, thank you for honoring this Veteran! I appreciate that a fellow Service Member was in their presence. It means so much to every Veteran! Thank you for your service from a fellow Army Nurse (R)! You make me proud as a nurse, Veteran and great person. Work well done!” Donna Rojas commented.
Manatee Memorial Hospital has since named Kagan a health care hero.
As of Wednesday, there are now at least 832,325 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, the most worldwide.
At least 42,353 people in the U.S. have died from coronavirus-related illness.
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