NEW ORLEANS — A bus driver in New Orleans recently lost his life to COVID-19 and the transit worker’s union is now asking for more safety precautions.
The pain for his widow, Monique, is unimaginable.
“I really have to live my life without my better half,” she said tearfully.
Monique Jackson first met her husband of 17 years when they were both in junior high. She was a cheerleader. He was a football player.
Fate brought them together. And COVID tore them apart.
“He was so adamant on not wanting the vaccine and nothing I said was working on convincing him to get it,” said Jackson.
54-year-old Brian Jackson would often introduce himself as “Bruno.” He was a father of seven and grandfather for 14.
Monique said he worked his dream job as an RTA bus driver in New Orleans for four years.
Monique told of a time he tore apart her clothes dryer years ago, and it still works to this day.
“He was a jokester. He was my real-life MacGyver because he fixed any and everything,” she said.
But in July, Brian started feeling sick. He stayed in the spare bedroom of their home for six days before being hospitalized.
For ten more days, he was in the hospital, texting Monique rather than calling, to keep her from knowing how serious his condition was.
Eventually, he was placed on a ventilator. Five days later, on August 10t, he became the fourth person in his family to die from COVID-19.
Monique can hardly get through the memory of those days without crying.
“All I can remember is his last conversation where he told me he loved me and that he would talk to me later. Later never came, because he never answered,” she said.
Brian “Bruno” Jackson is the third RTA employee in New Orleans to die from COVID. He’s one of at least 158 nationwide to die from the disease, according to the national union. 4
The driver’s union is demanding passenger limits, hazard pay, and increased safety.
The president of Amalgamated Transit Union International wrote in a statement:
“The hard-working men and women of the RTA have been providing critical transportation services since the COVID-19 pandemic began, but they didn’t sign up to do this job to die. We demand that the RTA do more to protect workers so that not one more life is lost.”
Monique has a message for those still in doubt.
“I urge everybody who has not got the vaccine to just put some serious thought into getting it,” she said. “Because I wish I could have wrapped Brian up and taken him and made him get this vaccine, and he would still be here with me today.”
Monday evening, RTA employees will be releasing balloons in Brian Jackson’s memory in front of the building on Canal Street.