Gay ER Doctor Who Treated COVID-19 Patients Has Died

A gay emergency room doctor in New Jersey who treated COVID-19 patients has died.

Dr. Frank Gabrin, a two-time cancer survivor, died in his husband's arms as they waited for first responders to arrive just one week after he developed coronavirus symptoms, NJ.com reported. He was 60.

Gabrin, who worked in hospitals in New Jersey and New York, is the first emergency room doctor to die from coronavirus complications in the United States.

In an emotional interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo, Arnold Vargas, Gabrin's husband, said that Gabrin continued to work because he wanted to help people. (Cuomo was hosting from his basement as he recovers from COVID-19.)

“He was a person who loved to help people,” Vargas managed to say through tears. “He just wanted to help people.”

(Related: NYC nurse who died of COVID-19 was a gay man.)

Vargas, who has also shown signs of the infection, told other outlets that his husband was recovering at home.

“I can handle this. I survived cancer and this is just the coronavirus,” Vargas said his husband told him.

On Tuesday morning, Vargas said that Gabrin told him: “Baby, I can't breathe.” He died before help could arrive.

New Jersey and New York are leading the nation in coronavirus cases, with New York reporting over 92,000 cases and New Jersey nearly 26,000, as of Thursday. The states have a combined 3,000 person death toll.