A travel nurse from the Philadelphia area was stationed in North Carolina when Hurricane Helene hit

A traveling nurse from the Philadelphia area cared for patients at a North Carolina hospital affected by Helene. Now she is raising resources to help others.

Nurse Kendall Sharkey had only been working at Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina for two months when Hurricane Helene hit on September 26.

She was ordered to stay overnight.

“Around 4 a.m. the fire alarm went off for about 30-40 minutes,” Sharkey said. “I thought, ‘Could someone shut that down?’ Turns out the transmitter was blown up, there was a fire and then we lost power.”

Despite having no power or running water, Sharkey, along with her colleagues, still had to care for patients at the hospital. And then they were hit by an influx of injured residents.

“Every two to five minutes there was a new ambulance pulling up,” Sharkey said.

Sharkey said they saw up to 400 people in the hospital emergency room at a time.

“They moved patients to other hospitals and to states outside the U.S. to make room. But the damage went beyond the hospital,” Sharkey said.

Houses were torn or washed awayroads are barely passable or flooded.

Sharkey and her boyfriend found safety at the family’s home four hours away, but she still had to commute back and forth to work every day. But she didn’t come empty-handed.

She stocked up on supplies to distribute to those stuck in Asheville.

“Between GoFundMe and Venmo, I ended up raising $14,000. We took multiple truckloads of donations,” Sharkey said.

When parts of the hospital were eventually operational again, Sharkey was told her job as a nurse was being eliminated.

“I just found out on Friday that they are overstaffed. And because some units are closed due to insufficient access to water, they just let go of 126 nurses, including me,” Sharkey said.

Sharkey’s last day on the job is next Tuesday.

While she is looking for work, she is still committed to raising donations to help others.