© 2024 Texas Public Radio
Real. Reliable. Texas Public Radio.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

'We Don't Sleep. We Don't Have Weekends.'

Dr. Paula Requeijo and her husband, psychologist Aaron Rochlen, recently put out a request on social media for donations of personal protective equipment to give to medical workers in need during the pandemic.
Courtesy of Paula Requeijo and Aaron Rochlen
Dr. Paula Requeijo and her husband, psychologist Aaron Rochlen, recently put out a request on social media for donations of personal protective equipment to give to medical workers in need during the pandemic.

From Texas Standard:

For Dr. Paula Requeijo, the coronavirus pandemic is both a personal and a professional concern of hers. She is chief medical officer for Elite Patient Care, a company that provides long-term health care, mostly for elderly patients. Also, her sister lives in Lake Como, Italy, one of the areas hardest hit by COVID-19.

Requeijo's husband, Aaron Rochlen is a psychology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and is also a practicing clinical psychologist. The couple has two young children, and they aren't getting much rest right now.

"We've been working 18 hours a day," she says. "We don't sleep, we don't have weekends. It's crazy."

Requeijo and Rochlen recently solicited donations of personal protection equipment on social media so they can give it to medical workers to protect them from COVID-19. Rochlen says they got a big response – but he's disappointed that they've had to go to such lengths to get those supplies.

"Thinking that it's come to that," he says, "that we have kids on street corners sewing together masks. ... We are underprepared for this, and we're in a real health crisis."

Requeijo says she and her family have found time for self-care, including "having time to connect and laugh," she says. "Because if not, you can't get up the next day and do it over again."

For Requeijo's sister in Italy, the danger of COVID-19 feels all too real: the ringing of church bells announces each new death from the virus.

"She listens to this bell 700 times a day," Requeijo says.

Rochlen says his wife has the greater burden to carry right now. So he says his primary job is to help his children stay engaged with the world as much as possible during the crisis.

Written by Shelly Brisbin.

Copyright 2020 KUT 90.5. To see more, visit KUT 90.5.

Texas Standard reporter Joy Diaz has amassed a lengthy and highly recognized body of work in public media reporting. Prior to joining Texas Standard, Joy was a reporter with Austin NPR station KUT on and off since 2005. There, she covered city news and politics, education, healthcare and immigration.
Laura first joined the KUT team in April 2012. She now works for the statewide program Texas Standard as a reporter and producer. Laura came to KUT from the world of television news. She has worn many different hats as an anchor, reporter and producer at TV stations in Austin, Amarillo and Toledo, OH. Laura is a proud graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, a triathlete and enjoys travel, film and a good beer. She enjoys spending time with her husband and pets.