NEW YORK -- The last time nurse Natasha Gonzales was in San Antonio, she was boarding her April 13 flight to New York City in order to aid overwhelmed health care workers.

What You Need To Know


  • Nurse Natasha Gonzales left San Antonio for New York City on April 13

  • Has been working 12-hour shifts in the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic

  • Has received care packages from friends and family in San Antonio 

  • May stay in New York until she is no longer needed there

Gonzales has been on the front lines for a month, and documented her experience. 

“So every morning, wake up, look for where our buses are parked, get on the bus, sign our sheets to make sure everybody’s accounted for,” Gonzales said as she was boarding her bus in New York. 

This is what Gonazales’ mornings are like before her 12-hour nurse shift in what has been the epicenter of the coronavirus.

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“Alright, end of day, getting on the bus,” Gonzales said after her shift. 

These 30-minute bus rides are Gonzales’ best opportunity to make phone calls to friends and family back in San Antonio.

“I try to [get] those phone calls in because by the time I get back I have about an hour and a half to shower, decontaminate, eat, check the mail, do the laundry and go to sleep," Gonzales says. 

Gonzales initially planned to be in New York for three weeks but extended her stay to eight - or until she is no longer needed. It was a possibility she knew about before departing.

“It doesn’t feel right to leave, and if I have the opportunity, I’m gonna stay,” Gonzales says. “I know there’s a lot of people that have to work, [attend] school or [be with] their families - the ones that wanted to stay but couldn’t.” 

Natasha Gonzales appears in New York City with fellow nurses. (Courtesy: Natahsa Gonzales)

It’s been difficult for Gonzales, who hasn’t seen her children since Easter.

“I hope that they understand, and if they don’t now, then they will someday, but everything I’m doing is for them but also for the people that need help,” Gonzales said of her three children, Elora, Jaiden and Dean.

Loved ones and even strangers from San Antonio have been sending care packages to Gonzales - gestures that she appreciates.

She feels hopeful when she walks by the city’s giant “hope” sculpture, but she says each day on the front lines feels like a week.

“It’s hard, it’s hard. But we have each other to lean on because only we truly know what it is like to be here,” she says.  

Gonzales has noticed some nurses are returning home with post-traumatic stress disorder. It’s something she and her U.S. Marine husband Albert Gonzales are familiar with.

“It think it’s definitely a blessing on our part that we are able to do that, to see that and understand that,” Albert Gonzales says. “So if it happens, I’m here for her and we’ll get her what she needs.”

As the number of cases in New York is on the decline, Natasha Gonzales wants to use everything she learned in the Big Apple to help the Alamo City.

“But in the meantime, I know we have a common goal, and that’s to help other people, and we are doing that together,“ she says. 

San Antonio nurse Natasha Gonzales appears in New York City. (Courtesy: Natasha Gonzales)