Marcial Reyes had a promising career in politics. Back in college at San Beda he was very active in both school and national politics; he even brought the late senator Miriam Defensor Santiago to school for a talk, and was the PRP Youth (People’s Reform Party) leader in Manila.

He worked for Sen. Edgardo Angara as public affairs specialist and media relations officer after graduating from San Beda with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy and Letters back in 1996.

Reyes traveled the world with Senator Angara while the latter was promoting the Absentee Voting and Dual Citizenship bills, and that was when Reyes realized he could still serve his country even in a foreign land. “I have seen the hardships of Filipinos in Hong Kong, Japan, US, Spain and in the Middle East,” Reyes said. “I consider them to be our new heroes. I can still be a Filipino and live outside of the country, but if I do leave the Philippines, I would need to refocus my career and make myself in demand.”

This realization of Reyes happened back in 2000 when the nursing profession was starting to be in high demand.

Reyes eventually got tired of politics and was looking for a sign if he should shift career paths. In 2003, he was browsing the papers and saw an ad on San Beda launching the College of Nursing. He was 30 then and he still decided to pursue it, and even took the CON entrance exam. He was the first second-courser to apply, and obviously he was the oldest in his class. He recalled how he used to keep a low profile in class, “They used to call me ‘Tatang,’” he said.

But Reyes still kept that political fire and became the college’s first Student Body president. He juggled working for Senator Angara and studying nursing.

In 2005 Reyes graduated from nursing and passed the board December that same year. He took additional nursing exams and in 2006 he flew to the US, originally as tourist but eventually became a migrant. “I walked in into several hospitals and was offered a job in three different hospitals.”

Reyes eventually chose Citrus Valley Health Partners-Queen of the Valley Medical Center in West Covina, California.

In 2009, Reyes took his Masters of Science in Nursing at Walden University.

Fast forward to 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic was hitting every part of the globe, Reyes lamented how the flights from Asia weren’t banned yet, and the health staff wasn’t fully protected in hospitals early on. “We were not ready, we work around that time without masks.”

Reyes started feeling the symptoms back in March. “I was feeling fatigue.” Eventually three nurses from his ward got infected but he became the most severely ill.

In his interview with CBS News, Reyes recalled how he was confined in the hospital for 30 days, and for 11 of those days, he was in a medically-induced coma and was attached to a ventilator. “Because my lungs were collapsing already,” he said.

He realized that he had a near-death experience where he saw his parents and his brother, but he told them that he had to continue living for his five-year-old son and wife.

Fortunately, Reyes recovered. He was discharged from the hospital last April 14 and went back to work May 15.

He was preparing to go to work as he gave this interview via Facebook Messenger. “I convinced my doctor to release me early as I felt the need to go back to work.”

Reyes talked about how nurses are feeling drained and sick. “I felt I needed to go back and help.”

It has been nine months since he recovered and Reyes now admitted that he has lost much of his endurance. “I used to work 16 hours almost every day without any problems, now 12 hours is too long and tiring.”

Other than that and the feeling of anxiety, Reyes reassured us that he is fine.

Even after his near-death experience, Reyes is far from slowing down in a profession he’s had for 15 years now. And now it has become his advocacy to educate people more about the virus and about the need for safe nursing practice.

“Nursing for me then was a need, now it has become my vocation,” he said.

Written by Luis Carlo San Juan