Westwood Nurse Killed In Car Accident Remembered By Colleague

WESTWOOD, MA — A colleague of Ann O'Flaherty, the Westwood nurse who was struck by a car and killed in front of the hospital where she worked, submitted a tribute to Patch about her friend.

Barbara Goolkasian Keane, a critical care nurse at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, sent the following piece to Patch:

Ann O’Flahery will always stand out to me as one of the very best nurses I have ever known in my long career

This is by no means, a casual comment and comes from a place of deep admiration for Ann

Ann O’Flahery embodied the very essence of an ideal nurse and person

Let me name a few of her astounding qualities

Ann had boundless compassion and a natural, flawless ability to gently nurture each of her patients

She showed a profound and loving interest in her patients and coworkers

This was coupled with her expert professional skills and topped off with an unshakable ability to remain positively focused and joyous even on the darkest days of work

I can only remember her with an impish like smile and a heart that was much larger than her petite physique and of course, her lovely Irish Brogue

I had the opportunity working with her many times over the years although not in recent past

We started at the hospital on the same year and went to orientation together

We shared pregnancies together

Our work together was sporadic but her impression on me was huge

I am so grateful to have run into her just two weeks ago at work, for the first time in a long time

We updated each other on our lives and our careers

At a time when so many veteran health care workers can only hope to fight off the negative vibes stemming from the ever increasing weight of understaffing, unfathomably high patient acuities, lack of true support from administration and oh yeah, covid…

Somehow Ann managed, as I absolutely assumed she would, to rise above it all and be happy and grateful for her life and her work

As I left work just after a conversation, it added a skip to my step

“Life is still good”, I thought

Ann still had her magic

When we first started at St Elizabeth’s, she had made that tough trek to a new country, away from her family and homeland but she has stars in her eyes

Grateful for the life experience, the work and for creating new friendships and patient relationships

Her positivity was simply infectious and a reminder that we could all benefit by emulating her

God Speed Ann,

You have left the world a better place!

Mat we all follow in suit

I was fortunate to have known you as a workmate

Barbara Goolkasian Keane