Nuvision Hero Kelly Jones: Living a life of personal sacrifice

When a disaster hits, many people panic. Kelly Jones isn’t one of them. For months during the COVID-19 crisis, she was stationed in Costa Mesa on CAL-MET’s Disaster response team, treating patients in critical condition and having next to no physical contact with her husband and two young sons.

Before joining the team, she worked in the ER at the peak of the coronavirus outbreak, showing up bravely each day and drawing on her ten plus years of experience as a registered nurse to deliver the care patients needed.

This month, we’re recognizing heroes in our community who go above and beyond to serve others. We’re sharing Kelly’s story because her unwavering willingness to spring into action in high-stress environments immediately stood out to us.

A pattern of personal sacrifice: Living for the benefit of others

Kelly has dedicated her life to helping others, putting herself through rigorous education and attaining two associate degrees, a bachelor’s in nursing, and a master's in nursing education. Over the years, she’s also been recognized multiple times in the field of Disaster and Preparedness management. 

Given her past history and dedication, it was little surprise when she rose to the position of Strike Team Lead and Trainer for CAL-MET’s COVID-19 strike team. Kelly traveled to numerous locations, spending weeks at a time sharing her skills with nursing facilities throughout the state of California. 

Even back home, the work doesn’t end. 

“This woman goes above and beyond the call of duty, day after day,” her husband told us. 

After finally returning home after months away, Kelly was right back to her job in the ER--checking in on patients, administering care, and tirelessly working to protect the health and safety of others.

Kelly has been awarded $500 for her selfless dedication to healthcare. 

When sharing Kelly’s story, her husband told us how incredible it would be to present her with something to formally recognize her service, “She gets little to no recognition for all of the sacrifice she’s made to save countless lives.”

We’ve awarded Kelly with $250 in recognition of her amazing story, and another $250 for her to donate to a charity of her choosing. It’s our privilege to be able to honor such a hard-working, dedicated woman for everything she’s done to make our community a better place. 

Sharing stories like Kelly’s is just one simple way we can honor heroes who have shown extraordinary courage through their service and inspire future generations to live for something greater than themselves. To view other stories or to find out more about how to nominate a hero, please visit our website here and our Facebook page here.