SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - It’s National Nurses Week from May 6 to May 12 and one of San Diego’s most famous nurses, Ana Wilkinson, is reflecting on the year that’s passed while also planning for movement in the near future.
Wilkinson has become known as the “dancing nurse” after first going viral at the beginning of the pandemic. She had traveled to New York City to help them when they were dealing with their initial flood of cases, bringing her dance moves and infectious personality with her.
After New York, she then traveled to Texas for three different trips, also helping in the hard-hit communities.
Now, she’s ready for her next challenge.
“I’m trying to volunteer to go to India. I'm trying to fly myself out there to help,” she said.
India’s extreme peak in cases and deaths is pushing the country’s healthcare system to its limits, so she wants to go offer extra hands and support.
RELATED: India cases hit new record as calls grow for strict lockdown
“I know how nurses are in the hospital so if I can send a nurse home or one or two and let them be with their family, then it’s completely all worth it,” said Wilkinson.
She said she’s hit a few roadblocks, both from scammers advertising fake programs to get people to India, and also juggling the closing borders and tightening restrictions. Those obstacles, though, are not stopping her. She said she’ll find a way to get there and help.
Wilkinson and her husband Randy, who is a firefighter, turned their honeymoon into a medical mission in 2010, spending some time in India. She said she remembers how incredible the people were, and hopes to return to the country to help however she can.
“I just feel that these are these things I was made to do is help people. I was made to help people all around the world,” she said.
For National Nurses Week, Wilkinson was featured in a “Salute to Nurses” piece published by the San Diego Union-Tribune.
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