HUNTSVILLE, Ala — Huntsville native Alisha Baldwin spent nearly ten years in the National Guard. Now she's a nursing student at Calhoun Community College, and she's using her skills to help in the pandemic.
When the first case was announced in the U.S., she knew there might be a shortage of PPE, so she got to work.
She began making masks for healthcare workers in between classes. She says she's always had a love for helping and protecting people. Baldwin explained, "With skills that I have, those are avenues to help people. So if I can do something to make anything a little bit better, that's what I try to do."
Baldwin demonstrated this willingness to help others during her 10 years in the National Guard as an Air Traffic Controller from 2003 to 2013. She survived an explosion during Operation Iraqi Freedom in Bagdad and was injured after becoming in close proximity of indirect enemy fire.
In the fall of 2013, her life changed again when she was diagnosed with cancer. Baldwin says nurses at both Huntsville Hospital and Vanderbilt played a vital role in her treatment and recovery, and that set her on the path to becoming a nurse herself.
As for the mask-making, Baldwin says that it started with a few dozen masks for neighbors, friends and family who work in healthcare. As of May 6, she had stitched more than 300 masks for healthcare workers at Huntsville Hospital, area clinics and as far away as Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
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