PLAINVILLE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A Plainville call firefighter and EMT is fighting for his life in a Boston hospital after contracting a serious case of Covid-19.
Stacey Bertram said her 23-year-old son Brett is in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator after contracting the virus.
"Since the pandemic started, being a nurse myself, this was the ultimate nightmare," Bertram said. "That one of [my] loved ones was going to be in the hospital on a ventilator.”
Bertram and the Plainville Fire Department started a GoFundMe page to help cover Brett's medical costs. Their original goal was to raise $3,000 -- but so far as of Friday evening, they have received over $10,000.
“The last two days he’s had some small gains [in his health],” Betram said. "He would be at a loss for words, as am I, at the amount of people who have rallied for him during his time of need."
Although Brett was eligible to receive a Covid-19 vaccine early on in the state's rollout as a first responder -- his mother said he was waiting to get his shot so that more vulnerable residents could get theirs first.
“He was like, 'I'd rather my grandmother who is 73 get it first, not take it away from somebody that could benefit from it more than me,'” Bertram said.
She added that she believes her son always had a higher calling to help others --- which may stem from his background, coming from a family of nurses.
“He loved to help people and would help anybody," she said. "He's a big guy, he has a beard, he looks kind of scary --- but he has the biggest heart -- like a big teddy bear.”
WBZ NewsRadio's Kim Tunnicliffe (@KimWBZ) reports.
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Written by Rachel Armany
(Photo: Courtesy of Stacey Bertram)