A nurse in Brooklyn has been named one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Amy O'Sullivan works at Wyckoff Hospital and she treated the first COVID-19 patient in New York City who also became the city's first death back in March, according to Time magazine's list of the most influential people of 2020.
The 18-year nursing veteran also contracted the novel coronavirus herself, having to be put on a ventilator. She eventually recovered and went straight back to work.
"One hundred percent of the patients for weeks and weeks were 100% COVID patients," O'Sullivan recalled back to the height of the pandemic in which New York City was once the epicenter.
In a phone interview with NBC New York, O'Sullivan says she shares the Time magazine cover and honor with her colleagues who work tirelessly through an unprecedented time. She says a security guard who works with her at the Bushwick hospital came to see her and asked her to autograph the magazine.
At the peak of the pandemic, as many as 700 New Yorkers were dying each day after contracting the coronavirus. As of recent weeks, less than 10 people in the state have lost their lives due to COVID-19, according to state health officials.
