Toronto Star describes funeral of nurse Nelia Laroza, Canada's first health care worker to die of SARS

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Toronto Star describes funeral of nurse Nelia Laroza, Canada's first health care worker to die of SARS

July 5, 2003 -- Today's Toronto Star ran a story by Betsy Powell about the emotional funeral of Nelia Laroza, the 51-year-old nurse who died of SARS at a local hospital on June 30, including descriptions of Laroza as a " hero" and the presence of an honor guard typical of the funerals of police and firefighters "killed in the line of duty." Funeral attendees included high-ranking political figures and union leaders. Ms. Laroza's niece delivered a eulogy that stressed her aunt's many professional and personal roles, and expressed the hope that other families would not pay the same price--a price that included difficulty in even being able to say goodbye to the strictly quarantined nurse and the SARS infection of Laroza's son, which led to the quarantine of 1,500 students at his high school. The piece also described efforts to improve infection control measures at the hospital, which had stopped providing certain services because of SARS. Read the article.

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