She put herself in danger to help people who needed her.
Patients suffering from the Spanish flu in a makeshift hospital, 1918
Ancestor: Maybelle Knight Gladden
Descendant: Jan G.
My father remembered his living room full of cots for people who had contracted the "Spanish flu" in 1918.
His mother Maybelle Knight Gladden was not a nurse, but she worked day and night to care for these people even though at that time there was no knowledge of personal protective equipment or effective treatments and none of the drugs we have now.
She was a hero because, even though Dad and his siblings were forbidden to go into that room, she spent most of her time trying to make her patients comfortable, which was really the only thing she was able to do.
She put herself in danger to help people who needed her.