Tewksbury’s battling COVID-19: From the lacrosse fields to Mass General, Callanan lending a hand

BOSTON/TEWKSBURY – Over the last few years, the sport of lacrosse has been a challenge for Grant Callanan. The former Tewksbury Memorial High School star has been hobbled by various injuries, which limited him to compete in just eleven games for Curry College.

While he has endured an ankle surgery and other ailments, none of that will ever compare to what he's going through today as nurse on the front lines of the Intensive Care Unit at Mass General Hospital, dealing with the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Callanan has been with MGH since May of 2019 – and previously was employed at Emerson Hospital – said that he is literally seeing lives saved on a daily basis.

“Mass General Hospital was ranked number two on the 'Best Hospitals honor roll (list) in the United States, and is one of the best hospitals in the world for cardiac care,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to be granted the opportunity to work in the Cardiac Surgical Intensive Care Unit as a Critical Care Technician, and I jumped at the opportunity. On this unit I am surrounded by some of the most outstanding nurses that I have run into in my experiences. The nurses on this unit quite literally save lives and I aspire to be just like them once I begin my career as a nurse.”

Callanan will graduate from Curry when the country is back in order, but until then, he has been thrown right into the thick of things, helping those who have been affected by the deadly virus.

“So the phrase that has been being used to describe the care that’s being delivered in the hospitals right now is quite literally, we are 'building the plane as we are flying it'. This is a very serious virus that mimics symptoms of Acute Respiratory Distress, and there has been little time to do research up to this point while the hospitals have been being filled up,” said Callanan.

He was then asked about his thoughts on the actual virus.

“Scary,” he emphasized. “Really, that’s the only word that comes to mind when thinking about this pandemic. Much of the population is underestimating the seriousness of this virus and the stay at home orders across the country. Working in the hospital gives you a front row seat to not only the devastation that this virus has been doing to people and their families, but also to the health care workers caring for these patients.

“When patients are sick in the hospital, family members cannot visit. The patients are alone to fight this sickness with no moral support from anyone other than the staff and phone calls from their families. Many of the staff are being isolated from their families in order to protect them as they have seen the effect this virus can have on others first hand.

“I know nurses that are sleeping in their basement and in their garages because they would do anything to keep their families from getting sick. I'm fortunate enough to not be living with my family so I don’t have to worry about putting them at risk.”

Grant is the second of four children with older sister Alexandra, 24, and younger brothers Reid, 21, and Sean, 18. He hasn't been around this three siblings for quite some time now.

“It is difficult being away from all of them during this time, but really it relieves some stress that I am not putting them at risk,” he said.

Grant was asked when he decided that he wanted to get into the healthcare profession, particularly as a nurse and he said that it was his younger brothers who helped steer him in that direction.

“I have always wanted to help other people. When I was younger, my brothers were frequently sick and subject to many health problems,” he explained. “Having two younger brothers of course also led to frequent injuries while horse playing. Since I can remember, I had always had this sense of empathy and compassion in which I always wanted to help them and take their pain away. In some way I'd rather myself have to endure their pain instead.

“Before entering nursing school, I am fortunate enough to have some very influential people and important people to me that helped steer me towards diving into the world of nursing.”

In three of his four years of college, Callanan has played on the Curry College Men's Lacrosse team and at the same time has endured the incredible workload of studying to eventually get his bachelor's degree. He is the only member of the lacrosse team to be a part of the Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society, which is academic excellence for nursing students with a GPA of 3.6 or higher.

Being such an excellent student, never turning away from the game of lacrosse despite ongoing injuries and now being on the front lines in the country's first pandemic since 1918, are just some of the reasons why his coach Tim Murphy calls him a 'true hero'.

"The amount of work that is required of Grant and his fellow teammates who are nursing majors in the course of an average year is massive," said Murphy. "This year has been exponentially greater. The time and energy that Grant put towards his academics and his lacrosse skill has been extraordinary over the last two years specifically. Not many people can be successful in the nursing field AND on the lacrosse field; keeping up with the workload."

On the field, Callanan mostly played the defensive midfield position. He scored one goal and had one assist in his career. He played in four games and scored that one goal during his freshman year. He didn't play as a sophomore as he was battling some injuries and also wanted to focus on his academics. Being on the sideline that season ate at him, so he returned as a junior but played in four games again due to a torn ATFL ligament in his ankle, which required surgery.

This year as a senior, he played in three games, collected his first assist but then the season and his career came to an abrupt end, due to the coronavirus.

"Grant never shied away from any of the work and attacked each opportunity head on," said Murphy. "After battling some injuries, Grant was poised for a great senior campaign. It is a shame that it ended the way it did for him and his classmates. We have a few guys like Grant who have been thrust right into the forefront of helping fight this pandemic by working at the Boston area hospitals, and it is nowhere short of heroic.

“To have your senior season ended in a matter of days, and then to dust yourself off and answer the call of helping others, while putting your own health in jeopardy, is admirable.

“I cannot express how proud I am of Grant and his classmates."

Callanan is one of 12 seniors on this year's team, who had their stomachs punched when told that their careers were over during an earlier season trip to Washington, D.C.

"It was very emotional and hard for the majority of the guys but especially for our twelve seniors," said Callanan. "We played our game at the US Lacrosse Facility and won, but what meant the most to all of us was how nobody wanted to walk off the field. Nobody wanted it to end or admit that it was over.

“After the game, we all kept our equipment on and just hung out – we laughed, smiled, made memories and made the most of the situation. That’s a memory ill keep for the rest of my life."

Immediately once the season was called off, Callanan switched masks – he turned his lacrosse helmet for a mask at Mass General Hospital and obviously that was extremely overwhelming.

“When this virus just began hitting the hospital, I was more scared than I can remember (to this point),” he said. “When our unit had our first potential COVID-19 case, it was a bit nerve-racking as there wasn’t much information released at this time and there was a serious shortage of PPE.

“As scary as things can get while this pandemic is going on, this is why I entered this field of work. Everyone can imagine how uneasy this virus can make health care workers feel, yet what is often looked over is how scary this virus can be for those diagnosed with it. This time that we are going through is when patients need us the most.

“There hasn’t been much positive news reported at all during this time, so it's hard to imagine what the patients are feeling especially when they can't even have their family visit them to help them through this. That knowledge is what helps me get up in the morning and help care for them.”