National Nurses United

asked for anything back. She left a legacy and I just want to be a good person for her." Hinlo described how her mother bravely made the huge sacrifice when she and her brother were just babies to leave the Philippines to work as an RN abroad so that she could earn a higher wage and better support the family back home. She worked in Saudi Arabia for four years, returned to the Phil- ippines for a couple, held their family together after a house fire during the 1989 Philippines coup attempt destroyed every- thing they had, then ventured back out to Saipan and Virginia before settling in California's San Francisco Bay Area. Once she had saved up enough money to buy a big house, the family could finally reunite under one roof. Even now that Hinlo and her brother each are married and have their own kids, they all still live together in one house. Hinlo said she and her brother never felt any pressure from their mother to become registered nurses, but they always admired her dedication to caring for people, hard work, profession- alism, and the values of nursing. "She was just an exceptional nurse," said Abby Apple, an RN who worked alongside Imperial on night shifts for close to 16 years. "Her skills were very good and she was very helpful. She's our go-to. It's so unfortunate that she's the one who got this." The Sutter Solano tele unit mostly cares for Covid patients, but not all the rooms have negative pressure. Even now, the nurses wear reusable gowns that are autoclaved after use instead of disposable gowns. One day in early December, Imperial said she did not feel well. Her throat hurt and she had chills. She tested positive for Covid-19 and had to be quarantined from the rest of the family, and the entire family in turn quarantined from the outside world. Luckily, every- body tested negative except for Hinlo's daughter, who seemed to have only a very mild case. Imperial, on the other hand, declined quickly over the next weeks, eventually getting admitted to the Sutter Solano ICU. She fought off the virus for more than a month, but was not improving. "It was like my mom was running a marathon without resting for a month and a half," said Hinlo. On Jan. 11, Imperial took her last breath after the family was able to say their goodbyes. It was peaceful and more like a sigh, said her daughter. "I'm glad we got to know her as a friend, a colleague," said Apple. "She's always there for us. We all feel a great loss. I miss her so much." —Lucia Hwang Regina Yumang regina yumang's family said she was a woman who enjoyed a good laugh and laughed often. "We called her Jack Halakhak," said her younger brother, Rom- mel, explaining that "halakhak" means laughter in the Ilonggo language of the Philippines. "Even the corniest of jokes, she would burst out with laughter all the time, she would just fill the room with that laughter." Yumang's son, Kenneth, said his mother touched everyone she met with her warmth and kindness. "If you were in a room and she walked in, her presence would make you feel loved," said Kenneth. "She had a big heart." Regina Angeles Yumang was born on Dec. 29, 1958, in Roxas City, the Philippines, to Fernando and Josefina Angeles. Her father was a principal and her mother was a teacher. Yumang was the sec- ond eldest of four children, and followed in her cousin's and elder sister's footsteps and became a nurse. She worked as a nurse in the Philippines for several years before she pursued her dream of com- ing to the United States in 1986. "She landed in Manhattan, pretty much living in New York which was perfect for her in part because she didn't drive," said Rommel, who wrote in her obituary, "she tried a few times to learn to drive and only managed to go as far as the ditch or a neighbor's fence." It was in New York that friends introduced her to Dennis, the man who would become her husband. The couple had one son, 19- year-old Kenneth. The two were a study in opposites. "They were a very nice couple, 22 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y | M A R C H 2 0 2 1 Marjorie Imperial

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