BOSTON (WHDH) - A Massachusetts General Hospital nurse came home from a long shift on Wednesday to signs of support outside her Mendon home.
Paige Colombo had just finished a 12-hour shift when she encountered a heartwarming homecoming set up by her neighbors.
“It was truly one of the most incredible things,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it. I think it was the nicest thing to happen to me in my entire life.”
People were standing outside of their houses cheering her on as signs hung on trees thanking Colombo for her work in the medical field amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“I was pulling up to my house and I was a little bit confused,” she recalled. I was on the phone, and I kept saying, ‘What’s going on, what’s going on?’ I was like, ‘I got to go, I got to go.'”
“There were just people outside their houses waving, signs on the trees as I made my way up on a windy little street,” she continued. “Every tree had a little sign on it supporting me, supporting Mass. General, supporting healthcare workers. I mean, I was speechless. It was incredible.”
Colombo says these simple gestures go a long way in boosting morale among healthcare workers.
“I think it’s so important. My coworkers and all the nurses and healthcare workers are leaning on each other, but it can feel isolating, like no one else understands what’s going on,” she said, “so to see the community reach out like that, this wave of gratitude, from the bottom of my heart, to see the community acknowledging that this is difficult for us as well.”
Colombo followed in her mother’s footsteps when she became a healthcare worker to help others. She’s been a nurse for about two years.
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