American Sign Language interpreter Virginia Moore has been a part of team Kentucky since the onset of the Coronavirus back in March. She has stood alongside Governor Andy Beshear, from a distance, bringing life-saving and critical information to those in the Commonwealth who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Moore has been noticeably missing for the past two weeks and on Thursday, she announced via video that she had been diagnosed with stage one uterine cancer. “I’m going to be going through a hysterectomy and then we probably will not have any need for a follow-up.” Moore's positivity continued “So actually this is a good thing but it reminds me to tell you all you need to take care of yourself. This month of October is breast cancer awareness month. Ladies, please go have a mammogram. Please go have a pap-smear. Please take care of yourself. This also means that I am now one of the vulnerable ones.”
Cancer is listed by the CDC as an underlying health condition that puts people at an increased risk for severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19. Moore asks everyone to Mask Up! “I’ve always worn a mask for you and I’m going to ask that you wear a mask for me. My heart is team Kentucky and I will be back.”
Beshear’s administration is the first in Kentucky to use a sign language interpreter regularly at press briefings. There are more than 100 thousand Kentuckians who are deaf or hard of hearing.