[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _dynamic_attributes=”content” _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Montserrat|700|||||||” text_font_size=”50px” text_line_height=”1em” text_orientation=”center”]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF90aXRsZSIsInNldHRpbmdzIjp7ImJlZm9yZSI6IiIsImFmdGVyIjoiIn19@[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Montserrat|300|||||||” text_font_size=”30px” text_line_height=”1.3em” text_orientation=”center” max_width=”75%” module_alignment=”center”]<\/p>\n
Juan Lopez picks up bodies for a living. Since the pandemic hit, he gets calls nearly every 20 minutes \u2014 and says it\u2019s an honor to do the job. <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _dynamic_attributes=”content” _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Montserrat||||||||” text_orientation=”center”]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9hdXRob3IiLCJzZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJiZWZvcmUiOiJCeSAiLCJhZnRlciI6IiIsIm5hbWVfZm9ybWF0IjoiZmlyc3RfbGFzdF9uYW1lIiwibGluayI6Im9mZiIsImxpbmtfZGVzdGluYXRpb24iOiJhdXRob3JfYXJjaGl2ZSJ9fQ==@[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_blurb image=”https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2020\/12\/Colleen_LaurenIban\u0303ez_final.jpg” alt=”Illustration of Juan Lopez” content_max_width=”100%” _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” body_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font_size=”14px” body_line_height=”1.2em” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” animation=”off”]<\/p>\n Illustration by Lauren Iba\u00f1ez<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||||false|false”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_audio audio=”https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2020\/12\/ColleenMaster.mp3″ title=”Listen to Juan Lopez’s story” artist_name=”Colleen DeGuzman” _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_audio][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n Along with a full-body hazmat suit and face respirator, Juan Lopez wears at least six pairs of gloves to work \u2013\u00a0all at once.<\/span><\/p>\n He takes a pair off every time he touches the dead body he\u2019s responsible for moving.<\/span><\/p>\n The McAllen man has been a human remains transporter in the Rio Grande Valley for two decades, moving corpses from crime scenes, homes and hospitals to funeral homes and morgues. Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the region last spring, he has never had to pick up so many bodies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Before the pandemic, Lopez would move about 15 corpses a week through his company, Elite Transportation & Clean-up Service. But during the region\u2019s summer surge, he was picking up as many as 50 bodies a day. Lopez\u2019s phone rings nearly every 20 minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_video src=”https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2020\/12\/Audiogram1.mp4″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_video][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_blurb image=”https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2020\/12\/Colleen04.jpg” alt=”Juan Lopez in a hazmat suit” _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” body_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font_size=”14px” body_line_height=”1.2em” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false”]<\/p>\n Before the pandemic, Juan Lopez picked up around 15 bodies a day, and during the summer surge of virus cases in the Rio Grande Valley, he was transporting as many as 50 bodies a day. (Photo by Colleen DeGuzman)<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m tired that every time I get a call, every time I have to go to a hospital, we already know it was for COVID,\u201d the 45-year-old says. \u201cNot for natural causes, not for accident, not for suicidal, it was COVID, COVID, COVID.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While hospitals across the region have seen how relentless COVID-19 can be, Lopez sees the sorrow and pain of lost battles.<\/span><\/p>\n As of Dec. 4, Hidalgo County has reported 45,387 virus cases and 2,090 deaths. At one point, the county\u2019s death rate was double the state\u2019s average. This was when Lopez would work until 3 or 4 in the morning, sometimes deciding it wasn\u2019t worth going back home to sleep. Instead, he would nap in his car, parked at the county\u2019s morgue, waiting for his next call.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n \u201cI am tired because we were not prepared for this; we were not. The pandemic caught us off guard. I was not prepared with equipment, I was not prepared with vehicles, and we were not prepared mentally,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I always say, this job, I thank God for this job because I learn how to appreciate life and learn how to help other people.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Lopez\u2019s faith has kept him rooted during the last several months; he said it\u2019s the reason he hasn\u2019t contracted the disease. Other people in the body-moving business who have caught the virus have asked him how he\u2019s been spared.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_testimonial author=”Juan Lopez” portrait_width=”0px” portrait_height=”0px” _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” author_text_align=”right” text_orientation=”center”]<\/p>\n \u201cWe are fighting a ghost. You don\u2019t know when it\u2019s going to touch you, when it\u2019s going to catch you. So I think the only thing that we can do is just follow regulations, and more than anything, put yourself on God \u2013\u00a0that\u2019s the only person that can cover you for everything.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_blurb image=”https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2020\/12\/Colleen02.jpg” alt=”Juan Lopez” _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” body_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font_size=”14px” body_line_height=”1.2em” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” animation=”off”]<\/p>\n Lopez says God is his best protection from contracting the coronavirus. (Photo by Colleen DeGuzman)<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n His answer: \u201cI just pray.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are fighting a ghost,\u201d he says. \u201cYou don\u2019t know when it\u2019s going to touch you, when it\u2019s going to catch you. So I think the only thing that we can do is just follow regulations, and more than anything, put yourself on God \u2013\u00a0that\u2019s the only person that can cover you for everything.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s difficult to show empathy through the heavy protective equipment Lopez wears. When he isn\u2019t picking up the bodies of people who died of the virus, he wears only one pair of gloves, and often offers comforting words and a hug to mourning family members.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n He is determined to keep compassion at the center of his work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c[I say to the families,] I am here to take your loved one, and I am going to treat them as part of my family,\u201d he says. <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n During the early months of the pandemic, Lopez wouldn\u2019t be told whether a person had died of COVID-19. \u201cBut you start moving the body and you start seeing tissues, Vicks, cough drops and all kinds of medicines,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n As a father of four, Lopez initially did not want to pick up the bodies of people who died of the virus, but then he had a change of heart.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEverybody started calling me and calling me,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd so I said, \u2018You know what? This is my call, so let\u2019s see what God is going to put in front of me.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Lopez has 6-year-old twin girls, an 8-year-old son and a 23-year-old daughter. Time with their dad is not the only thing the children have had to give up; they\u2019ve also had to sacrifice hugs and kisses when he comes home.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI would get home and open the door and my kids just run after me, \u2018Hey daddy,\u2019 and I say, \u2018Don\u2019t touch me, please don\u2019t touch me, just go away. \u2026 I\u2019m dirty, don\u2019t touch me please,\u2019\u201d he says. <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n Just as putting bodies in the back of his car is his job, Lopez puts his feelings behind him, too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSome of the times, my friends say, \u2018You don\u2019t have a heart,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cI do have a heart, but sometimes you have to put your feelings to the back, because if you put your feelings to the front, it\u2019s going to hurt.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Holding in his emotions was impossible for Lopez a few months ago, however, when he had to pick up his own uncle \u2013 and found him on the hospital floor.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI said, \u2018I think I have been doing my best to treat dead people as part of my loved ones, and I did not expect that my uncle to be on the floor, like a piece of rag or piece of trash,\u2019\u201d he says, fidgeting with his fingers.<\/span><\/p>\n After he filed a complaint with the hospital, staff began to stack bodies on racks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Just three weeks ago, Lopez says, he saw that local COVID-19 units were empty, and hospitals no longer needed extra refrigerators to store bodies. But lately, the county\u2019s daily count of virus cases has been rising, and he\u2019s preparing for another spike in deaths.<\/span><\/p>\n Starting mid-November, the county began reporting daily numbers similar to the levels seen during the summer surge: in the 600s and 700s.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s coming back again, and now we are trying to get prepared, because we know if we are not prepared this time, it\u2019s going to be a mess,\u201d Lopez says.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut I say, \u2018You know what, Lord? You know what you are doing. I am not going to complain, let\u2019s go forward.\u2019 So I am here, doing my best.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_blurb image=”https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2020\/12\/Colleen03.jpg” alt=”Juan Lopez and his children” _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” body_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font_size=”14px” body_line_height=”1.2em” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” animation=”off”]<\/p>\n Lopez is the father of 6-year-old twin girls, Juana and Ema, 8-year-old Edgar and 23-year-old Nashla. (Photo courtesy of Juan Lopez)<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_blurb image=”https:\/\/txnewsroom2020.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2020\/12\/Colleen01.jpg” alt=”Juan Lopez” content_max_width=”100%” _builder_version=”4.6.3″ _module_preset=”default” body_font=”Montserrat||||||||” body_font_size=”14px” body_line_height=”1.2em” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” animation=”off”]<\/p>\n Lopez of McAllen, a human remains transporter for Elite Transportation & Clean-up, responds to a non-COVID-19 related death. The surge of virus deaths have compounded the 45-year-old\u2019s regular workload. (Photo by Colleen DeGuzman)<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Juan Lopez picks up bodies for a living. Since the pandemic hit, he gets calls nearly every 20 minutes \u2014 and says it\u2019s an honor to do the job. Illustration by Lauren Iba\u00f1ezAlong with a full-body hazmat suit and face respirator, Juan Lopez wears at least six pairs of gloves to work \u2013\u00a0all at once. 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