CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A military veteran continues to serve his community during the pandemic.
What You Need To Know
Devin Yates served in the U.S. Army for 10 years
The five-time Purple Heart recipient became a nurse after being medically retired from the military
He’s been serving the community during the pandemic
Devin Yates was in the U.S. Army for 10 years with deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq and Germany.
“We were in the heart of the war, and I had a desire and longing to be something bigger,” Yates said.
He earned five Purple Hearts after being shot at several times during his deployment, but he still doesn’t see himself as a hero.
“I volunteered to be in the service,” Yates said.
In 2015, he was medically retired from the military after sustaining a traumatic brain injury. This type of retirement aims to compensate for a military career cut short because of a disability.
While recovering, his appreciation for those caring for him prompted him to go to nursing school.
“I also became a nurse because I wanted to give back to the field that helped me recover and helped me crawl out of some of the darkest times in my life,” Yates said.
He's worked at Atrium Health for three years, including during the pandemic. Initially, he worked in the intensive care unit at the main Charlotte hospital. Recently, he transitioned to a specialized unit that runs the ECMO machine, which is a pump that can act as the heart, lungs or both.
In both jobs at Atrium Health, he’s cared for COVID-19 patients.
“I think the hardest part of COVID is watching the patients have to be in the hospitals alone, and a lot of times you're the only person that's really there for the patient, you’re their family,” Yates said.
He lets patients on ventilators know they are not alone.
“I always go in and if I talk to their family, I'll let them know, even though they likely can't hear me or have no idea what I'm saying. I just want them to know that their family members do miss them and love them and wish they could be there with them,” Yates said.
He’s proud to have defended his country and to be supporting his community on the front lines of a pandemic.
“There’s no way there's no other place and no other job I would rather be doing at this time,” Yates said.
Yates is also a clinical nursing instructor at Central Piedmont Community College and a graduate student at UNC Charlotte, studying Business Administration and Health Administration.