An American infectious disease specialist who urged people to wear face masks and follow Centres for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines has tragically died after contracting Covid-19.
Dr Rebecca Shadowen died from the virus on 11 September after falling ill back in May – she was 62.
Kentucky governor Andy Beshear paid tribute to Dr Shadowen, saying: “I am heartbroken to hear of the passing of Dr. Rebecca Shadowen, a front line hero who worked tirelessly to protect the lives of others.
Our Med Center Health team continues to mourn the loss of Dr. Rebecca D. Shadowen. Today, at 1:20pm during her funeral service, we invite the community to join us in a moment of silence in her honor. Dr. Shadowen shared the words below in one of her last written communications. pic.twitter.com/jg9WSPhmVW- Connie Smith (@ConnieSmithCEO) September 17, 2020
“Please follow Dr. Shadowen’s advice – wear a mask in her honour.”
The doctor, who lived in Bowling Green in Kentucky, had been warning people about the dangers of the coronavirus back in March and urged people to follow social distancing and stick to the guidelines laid about by the US government.
Posting to her Facebook followers about wearing masks on 13 March, she said: “If you could save the life of another person without harming your own, would you? Although we are (fiercely) individuals, we still live as community.”
In a post a few days later she wrote: “Wouldn’t it be cool if we could make the Bowling Green area the least affected by coronavirus (Covid-19)! We not only get the award, we create it!
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“I have always described Bowling Green as a ‘special sweet spot’ because of all we have and all of who we are here. It is our home.
“Let us be the one community that acts now to isolate ourselves and live by the recommendations to stop the spread by stopping in-person exposure to others.”
Credit: Facebook/Rebecca Shadowen
Shadowen worked at the Medical Centre at Bowling Green and was also a member of the Bowling Green-Warren County Coronavirus Workgroup.
Dennis Chaney, the medical centre’s vice president of ancillary services, told NBC News: “She’d say, ‘Look folks, this isn’t politics. This is science. I heard her say that many times.”
Her husband David Shadowen – who is also a doctor – told the news outlet that since his wife’s passing numerous former patients of hers have approached him to say: “I’m alive today because she saved my life.”
While her heartbroken daughter Kathryn, 23, added: “It was really powerful to be the kid of someone who saved people. A lot of kids think of their parents as heroes. Mine actually was.”
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