Dallas lawyer stops trying cases to start treating cases of COVID-19 in New Jersey

DALLAS - A Dallas lawyer decided to shelve her law practice for six weeks. She stopped trying cases and started treating cases of COVID-19.

Six weeks ago, Colleen Carboy put her Dallas law practice on hold to practice what she was first licensed as 25 years ago: a registered nurse.

Switching the business suits for PPE, Carboy is answering the call for help with the COVID-19 response in New Jersey.

“We were just so overwhelmed with the quantity of patients and how sick they were,” she said. “We were in makeshift units. The unit where I worked was a day surgery unit that was turned into a COVID-19 unit.”

While there was much sickness and death, there were also some celebrations.

Since Carboy has been at Englewood Health, the hospital cheered for its 500th recovery.

“And those are the ones who stick with you,” she said. “You know, the ones that get to go home.”

Before leaving home for New Jersey, Carboy had to talk to her family.

“It was tough telling them what I was gonna do,” she said. “That was really tough.”

Husband Greg Carboy, who is also an attorney, gets high praise from his wife handling everything while she was away, including the family pets.

“We've spent a lot of time in the evening Facetiming Colleen, and we make sure the dogs are a big part of that,” he said. “As a family effort, we've worked hard to help one another. We're very much looking forward to Colleen getting home this weekend.”

As she prepares to come home, Carboy has this word of warning.

“I wish that people would — especially in Dallas — wear their masks,” she said. “This is not a condition that you want anyone to face, especially our elder population.”

Carboy will be coming home this weekend to Dallas. She will have to self-quarantine in the spare bedroom. While she can't hug and kiss her family, she hopes to snuggle with the dogs.