you forew5uatching, good night,, everybody. this is "nightline." tonight, waiting to exhale, suffocating, struggling to breathe, and now saved. a near miraculous recovery after three months on a ventilator. >> i almost lost my wife, kids, grandkids. >> our vigil, behind the scenes with one covid-19's patient loved ones. >> first thing he said is i love you and is one miracle. plus lethal in l.a. covid-19 fatalities climbing. city officials nationwideremunie getting vaccines. back.

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it's a moment the symptoms family thought

si m s family thought might never come. the family you r50e union took place after a three-month battle with covid. >> these last three months every tway. every minute i prays. every minute i prayed. we wanted him back. we were just trying to prepare for what might. what if. just be ready for whatever happens. >> i love you. >> as he fought for his life in an oklahoma hospital, curtis says those prayers are what kept him going. >> tell you one thing, it's real easy for me to feel his prars. prayers. i don't know if is normal or >> curtis is grateful for another chance at life. >> each breath is just a blessing nowadays. you just realize that you just don't want to take it for granted. >> welcome home, curtis. >> while this is one victory in

still grappling with the virus. as a country one thing is certain, we're now engrossed in the deadliest period since the pandemic first began almost a-year ago. the month of january proving to the deadliest the virus claiming the lives of more than the 5,000 people. 95,000 people and u.s. surpassed 26 million cases over a mill yu7b -- over a million in l.a. county alone southern california region more than 16,000 have died. coroner's office desperately trying to keep up. funeral homes similar story. >> this used to be a chapel. >> last month the chapel and lobby were filled with coffins and bodies. >> in my caller id i don't even have time to answer phone calls.

my system is reporting me like hundreds of calls a day. >> over the weekend number of cases of death showed promising signs but far from clear, official showing communities hardest hit latino in particular continue to die at greater numbers than neighbors. >> our latin x community is bearing the worse of this pandemic. >> since the latest surge which began in november latino covid deaths have gone up 1,000% coming from low-income neighborhoods made up mostly of latino residents. the doctor here is a er physician 59 the hospital for months warning how bad it cou inequities with regard to covid, why a year later we're seeing such disparity when it comes to deaths and infection rates. >> we're trying to fix a problem that's been existing for

centuries. maybe the best we can do is try to keep that equity lens in mind as we think about vaccine distribution. >> for the proud puerto rican, the fight against covid has felt personal, especially in a field where less than 6% of all doctors identify as latino. >> i had it where my entire time in the emergency department has been people that could look like my mom. or like my uncle or my brother. >> and how does the lack of latino doctors impact the kinds of care latino communities get? >> oh, boy, i'm a unicorn, right. there's a cultural disconnect. for a lot of latinos, language disconnect. language is the most important tool a physician has in taking care of patients. 80% of our diagnosis we identify just idaho tie by history not

even physical demand so when you have a language discordance our act to take care of a person is greatly limb incompetented. >> for the -- greatly limit 12k3w4rd for the last for the last year the doctor has been part of the covid-19 initiative. >> gives me pride that the city of chicago has rolled out a vaccine plan to prioritize those with highest rate of infection and mortality in the city. >> are you optimistic this disparity will be bridge snd. >> hopefully so. this is not going to get fixed in the next few years but 59 least we're using the words and having the discussions and there's a lot of good people in leadership that want to see a change. >> as some wait for that dose of hope others thankful to come out on the other side of the virus. >> you keep fighting, you got this. >> it was last november when we

first matt her at the hospital. her husband curtis was hooked up to a ventilator, his hedge r 1450e7b8g his health rapidly deteriorating, feeling ill on halloween and waved off going to the hospital until a week later when he was 1u6 indicat suffoca front of her. following covid protocol she had to drop him at the hospital fully aware she might not ever see him again. >> you go to the parking lot and sit and cry. >> nine days later susan is given the chance to visit her husband who is still saidated and not doing well.

>> babe, i love you. >> the kids came over. babies miss you. they're ready for you to come home. love you so much. need you home. need you home. >> the very next day curtis was airlifted to a hospital in oklahoma city where he took a turn for the worse. >> they called me twice and told me he wasn't going to make it. his heart went crazy and had to do cpr. everybody gathered at my house and we prayed and we talked and i called the next day. they told me he's stable . >> back from the brink, curtis was gradually weened off the

ventilator with a slow and steady healing process full of small wins. >> i never forget the doctor calling me, we facetimed on her phone. first thing he said was i love you. she said he's a miracle. >> a miracle who is regaining strength in his legs with weeks of physical therapy ahead of him before he can go home. >> every day i'm stronger than the day before. it's probably going to take a lot more time than what i'm going to be comfortable with but i got to be patient and let it happen as it happens. this may sound stupid but i really want to get back on a horse. there's a lot of things i want to do. but i really want to get back on a horse and just ride across the pasture. >> his unwavering faith is what

he says saved him. a faith sims hope to share with families whose loved ones are still suffer from covid. >> i didn't know what was happening on the world around me but in my mind i knew that i needed to talk to god pray hard as you can. >> coming up next, racial inequalitys and the vaccine roll out. what's being done to make sure everyone gets their shot.

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population and 11% received the vaccine. white countser parts make up 68% of the population but 82% have been vaccinated. earlier tonight i spoke with emergency physician sutton and boston community organizer lrks iz walker about it's racial disparities about how and who we vaccinate. thank you both for joining us. >> glad to be here. >> dr. sutton you've been on the front lines in l.a. where covid death toll is hitting black and latino communities the hazard e hardest do you worry >> absolutely. from the numbers from less than half states there's a clear disparity to the amount of vaccine delivered to black and brown communities relative to white communities and i fear as time goes on we'll continue to see the high risk of covid-19 to

black communities and low vaccination to increase a more increased disparity between the two. >> reverend walker, you're a former journalist and reverend and organize a zoom meeting where you said you hoped it would give trust to the vaccine. tell us about the root historical causes of this mistrust. >> this current situation is a perfect example why people are distrustable what's going on, certainly our history where situations like the tuskegee stud 1yi where 625 men were unknowingly used for a u.s. government scivil is study and people over and over of the numbers are appalling. part of that is hesitancy, part of that is disparity between

what we were promised whands actually happening. >> there's still so much to overcome. doctor, do you think the fact there's such a small percentage of black doctors impact health care in the black community. >> absolutely. it comes down to level of communication whether between the doctor and patient or larger scale within media as black physicians we only represent five perfect of physicians in total a number that hasn't changed since the 70's, and this is continued issue with lack of communication between communities of color and physician groups if we're not represented in these physician groups it is more difficult to create that trust, that level of rapport that has good outcome because vunfortunately is a tall feat to accomplish. >> you talked about making

vaccine more successful in black and brown communities bringing it to those communities what tools have you seen to be most effective? >> well it's very early because of the confusion about the roll out. but what we want to do is take the vaccine to people. you have to make this a lot easier than it is right now. we understand this has never been done before in the world. so this say major undertaking. there's going to be hiccups, i get that, but i think we have to make extra effort from communities burden with this covid-19 so you have to make it easier for people to get the vaccine and that's not the case reven would you be in favor bring the vaccine to houses of worship. >> absolutely. i know that's difficult and hard but i think that's what we have to do, to take it into the communities, take it to churches and housing developments

>> how can doctors gain a role in gaining trust in the communities. >> couple ways, number, understanding the root issues. as physicians and health care providers it's a question of are we being trustworthy from the history, from the research that is been done and perry has set the example bringing that communication in communities in a safe space, outside of the hospital, we need to step outside the four walls of the hospital and get into communities to invest and provide and education and end of the day vaccine in people's arms. >> thank you both for your time and wisdom. >> thank you. >> up next, have you ever

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and finally tonight, the history behind black history

month, here's my "nightline" coanchor byron pitts. >> february is officially black history month, a federally recognizes celebration that gives every american a chance to reflect how african-american achievements have impacted the u.s. history and impacted the world. what's the history of black history month. it all started with dr. carter g. woodson known as father of black history. while earning master in university of chicago and d from harvard he grew frustrated with race and representation and exclusion of african-american in books and conversation that's shaped history. in 1915 he joined forces to establish association for negro of life and history which is known as association for study of african-american life and history, led by woodson in 1916, the organization launched the journal of negro history which

honored the achievements of people with african dissent. february 26th woodford reser reserve -- they launched black history week for the black community. why february? the group chose the second week of february to include the birthday day of douglas a slave a. civil leader and -- highlights achieve in the pride of black culture and during the civil rights movement, workers opened freedom schools in the south which embraced the message among other things. spread the movement to university as cross the nation and week transformed into black history month and in 1976 general ford declared february

black history month urging americans to cease the opportunity to honor the accomplishments of black americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history and the rest, as they say is history. >> our thanks to byron. that's "nightline" for tonight. see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, mercado. good night, america.