Husband of health care worker slain in NS shooting honours her memory with fight for PPE

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Following the horrible events that were perpetrated in Nova Scotia this past weekend, Nick Beaton has been determined to honour his wife’s memory by continuing her fight to protect health care workers during COVID-19.

Kristen Beaton was a continuing care worker employed at the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) and an NSGEU member. She was killed on Sunday, along with her unborn baby, as she was on her way to work, doing a job she loved.

Nick gave a heartfelt interview with CTV National News this week to talk about Kristen and how much she loved being a mom and a care worker.

“Watching Nick’s interview brought tears to my eyes,” said Linda MacNeil, Atlantic Regional Director. “For Nick to go out and ask for all health care workers to be protected while dealing with this ultimate personal tragedy is more than an act of selflessness, it’s an act of love. Nova Scotians take care of each other in challenging times and Nick exemplifies that trait.”

He described how, for weeks, Kristen cried before she went to work and after she came home, terrified she didn’t have the proper equipment to protect her from contracting COVID-19 and possibly spreading it to her family or the clients she cared for.

Kristen joined the campaign launched by Unifor and five other health care unions in the province to call on Premier McNeil to do whatever is necessary to provide the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) to all health care workers.

Now, Nick said he is carrying on with Kristen’s cause to honour her and to make sure no frontline worker has to go through what she went through on a daily basis.

Already, more than 2,000 Nova Scotians have signed the petition at protectnsfrontline.ca and many health care workers have shared selfies to raise awareness of the campaign and urge Premier McNeil to act.