BALTIMORE —

Sunday will mark a new year, but Thursday marked 110 years for a Baltimore resident.

Clarice Patterson has lived in her west Baltimore home for 73 years, and although she's not as verbal as she used to be, she's just as feisty－and more loved than ever before.

Patterson enjoyed a birthday party with her great-grandchildren and grandchildren.

It's a rare occasion few get to see, as the life expectancy in the U.S. in 2020 was 77－33 years less than Patterson.

When Patterson was growing up, eggs cost around 33 cents and the average yearly income was $750. It was a time when family and hard work meant everything.

"She walked us to school every day and then walked back and picked us up at school. She would volunteer at the school. She was definitely feisty, and she was definitely the person who would get you in line," granddaughter Helena Johnson said with a laugh.

Patterson was born at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She graduated from Frederick Douglass High School and Morgan State University, earning a degree in business. She worked for Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks as a director of the Cahill Rec Center until she retired in 1983.

Patterson and her late husband have three children, three granddaughters and a handful of great-grandchildren.

And, while this matriarch has been holding things down for a long time, things weren't always easy.

"She would tell us about, like, how growing up, with her skin complexion, she couldn't go into certain stores, and her grandmother, she would have to sit outside and wait for her grandmother to finish in the store," Johnson said.

Patterson was diagnosed with dementia 10 years ago at the age of 100, but one couldn't tell by her dance moves at her 105th birthday celebration.

Now, she relaxes in her chair and does some leg exercises with her family on standby, bringing her cookies and tea, ready to continue to love and celebrate her life.

Johnson shared what the family said is Patterson's secret to longevity: "She used to say, 'Not drinking and eating healthy.'"

Watch the video above for the full story.

BALTIMORE — The Maryland Office of Chief Medical Examiner is experiencing an unprecedented backlog of autopsies. The delays mean families have to wait weeks to say goodbye to their loved ones who were murdered or overdosed.

“The bodies are piling up and decaying right in front of everyone’s eyes,” said Patrick Moran, President of AFSCME Council 3, which has members who are autopsy assistants and forensic investigators. “Bodies are decomposing, and that’s not the way to treat those that have lost their lives and families who are looking for closure.”

More than 200 bodies are awaiting autopsy. Moran said members of the union describe a gruesome scene at the agency in Baltimore, which is responsible for investigating violent or suspicious deaths, including all deaths unattended by a physician.

“It’s pretty vile, and it’s pretty unhealthy,” said Moran.

Running out of space, the Maryland Department of Health converted a parking garage downtown into a morgue until a permanent expansion could be built.

“The additional storage that has been provided allows adequate capacity decedents that may be awaiting autopsy as well as decedents who are completed and awaiting funeral homes,” said Dr. Jinlene Chan, Deputy Secretary of MDH, at a House subcommittee meeting last week.

Dr. Chan said the backlog has been rising for the last few weeks. It’s caused by high vacancy rates (17.2 percent in December) and increasing numbers of murders and drug overdoses, which are resource-intensive cases.

An MDH spokesperson said there is a nationwide shortage of qualified applicants.

Moran said it’d been a longstanding challenge to maintain adequate staffing.

As of December, three positions had been vacant for almost a year. Fire medical examiners have retired or resigned over the last two years, and three more are expected to retire soon.

“We need them to recruit more people to do the job. They need to look at what people need. The resources people need to do the job, the salary they need to do the job, and take action.

In a statement, MDH said they offer highly competitive salaries, and they are performing direct outreach to fill openings, dedicating a recruitment specialist specifically for OCME.

To assist with the growing workload, MDH added 21 new positions, including medical examiners, toxicologists, and support professionals.

In the meantime, FEMA is supplying two pathologists and two pathology assistants to provide additional support to OCME beginning this week.

The delays ultimately impact the families who grieve the loss of a loved one.

“The families are anxious anyway because they have lost someone dear to them, so it adds onto the anxiety level,” said Erich W. March, the VP and CEO of March Funeral Homes.

March said the OCME used to take two days to perform an autopsy. Now it’s taking as long as two weeks from the date of death, forcing families to wait to say their final goodbyes.

“It makes it difficult for the family plans their memorial service or tribute because they don’t have a real set date as to when the preparations can be completed,” said March.

The OCME is accredited by the National Association of Medical Examiners or NAME. To maintain that status, there are specific standards they have to meet, and these issues are causing violations.

NAME’s standard is that no autopsy physician should be required to perform more than 325 autopsies per year. In fiscal 2021, OCME reported its highest ratio with 390 autopsies performed per ME, significantly surpassing the phase II standard.

In the FY23 MDH budget analysis, the Department of Legislative Services wrote that although OCME can continue to operate without accreditation, being accredited by NAME improves the public’s trust that the office is performing its work in a proper environment and limits questions about the validity of MEs’ findings at trials.

DLS pointed out that increased ME vacancies and higher caseloads have led to this ratio, and it is likely to have lasting impacts on recruitment and retention efforts.

Abby Isaacs at WMAR first reported this story.

BALTIMORE —

Monday's fatal fire in southwest Baltimore shocked the city fire department and fire departments across the country as an investigation gets underway.

This investigation is personal for the federal, state and Baltimore City agents investigating the origin and cause of Monday's fire at a vacant rowhouse.

"It is a tragic loss for all of us because we are family and we lost a lot of family yesterday," Maryland State Fire Marshal Brian Geraci said. "There's a lot of damage to the structure. We may not be able to determine a cause."

City fire officials said the fire started around 6 a.m. and the building partially collapsed, trapping four firefighters inside. Three fire service members died, and a fourth remains hospitalized at Shock Trauma.

"We are all heartbroken," Geraci said.

Investigators went door to door in the neighborhood, searching for surveillance video that may help them figure out who entered and left the building. A specialized crew from Montgomery County shored up the structure so investigators could safely dig through the rubble.

"We know there is no power to the building. We know there is no electric in the building. So, those types of sources have been ruled out," Geraci said.

Investigators are also looking into a 2015 fire at the same location that left three firefighters injured. Investigators are looking for comparisons.

Sister station WBAL looked into who owns the vacant home and learned the property owners now live in Pennsylvania.

One of their relatives, Jeffery Shore, said: "It's sad three people lost their life because the city didn't do their job keeping squatters away. My relatives shouldn't have left the property abandoned."

"There must be a plan in place moving forward to prevent this from happening again," Geraci said.

City hall officials said the building will be torn down after the property is released from the investigation.

Baltimore City Fire Department spokeswoman Blair Adams said there is no policy in place regarding entering a known abandoned building to fight a fire, but she said there is always room for improvement.

Injured firefighter's condition improves

Fire officials updated the condition of the fourth Baltimore firefighter injured in Monday's fire and collapse at a vacant row home.

EMT/Firefighter John McMaster has been upgraded to fair condition and he is conscious and alert at Shock Trauma, Baltimore Fire Chief Niles Ford said.

Ford visited McMaster Tuesday.

"He was able to speak and we were able to talk to him. We prayed with him and we're very optimistic about his condition and him getting out of the hospital soon," Ford said.

A city mourns: Remembering Baltimore's bravest

Lt. Paul Butrim had been with the Baltimore Fire Department for more than 16 years. He started in 2005 as a firefighter and paramedic apprentice.

Firefighter/Paramedic Kenny Lacayo had been with the Baltimore Fire Department for seven years. He also worked with the Wheaton Volunteer Rescue Squad in Montgomery County, where he was named paramedic of the year in 2016.

Lacayo's father was overcome with grief while speaking about his son.

"I would like my son to be remembered as a son of a proud father, loving and caring, loved his community and the reason I say that is because he liked to help people," his father said.

Wheaton's Fire Chief Mark Dempsey also said Lacayo was a rising star in the Baltimore City Fire Department.

"He came to the rescue squad shortly after graduation and he flourished there. He became a firefighter became a paramedic was awarded paramedic of the year," Dempsey said.

Firefighter/Paramedic Kelsey Sadler had been with the Baltimore Fire Department for 15 years. She was in the same recruit class as a firefighter and paramedic trainee who died in a training accident in 2007. The recruits in that class were given the opportunity to leave; Sadler decided to continue on with her career.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan ordered flags across the state to be lowered to half-staff to honor Butrim, Sadler and Lacayo.

Watch the video above for the full story.

BALTIMORE —

In a medical first, doctors transplanted a pig heart into a patient in a last-ditch effort to save his life and a Maryland hospital said Monday that he's doing well three days after the highly experimental surgery.

While it's too soon to know if the operation really will work, it marks a step in the decades-long quest to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants. Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center say the transplant showed that a heart from a genetically modified animal can function in the human body without immediate rejection.

The patient, David Bennett, 57, knew there was no guarantee the experiment would work but he was dying, ineligible for a human heart transplant and had no other option, his son told The Associated Press.

"It was either die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know it's a shot in the dark, but it's my last choice," Bennett said a day before the surgery, according to a statement provided by the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

There's a huge shortage of human organs donated for transplant, driving scientists to try to figure out how to use animal organs instead. Last year, there were just over 3,800 heart transplants in the U.S., a record number, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees the nation's transplant system.

"If this works, there will be an endless supply of these organs for patients who are suffering," said Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin, scientific director of the university's animal-to-human transplant program.

But prior attempts at such transplants — or xenotransplantation — have failed, largely because patients' bodies rapidly rejected the animal organ. Notably, in 1984, Baby Fae, a dying infant, lived 21 days with a baboon heart.

The difference this time: The Maryland surgeons used a heart from a pig that had undergone gene-editing to remove a sugar in its cells that's responsible for that hyper-fast organ rejection.

"I think you can characterize it as a watershed event," Dr. David Klassen, UNOS' chief medical officer, said of the Maryland transplant.

Still, Klassen cautioned that it's only a first tentative step into exploring whether this time around, xenotransplantation might finally work.

The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees xenotransplantation experiments, allowed the surgery under what's called a "compassionate use" emergency authorization, available when a patient with a life-threatening condition has no other options.

Just last September, researchers in New York performed an experiment suggesting these kinds of pigs might offer promise for animal-to-human transplants. Doctors temporarily attached a pig's kidney to a deceased human body and watched it begin to work.

The Maryland transplant takes their experiment to the next level, said Dr. Robert Montgomery, who led that experiment at NYU Langone Health.

"This is a truly remarkable breakthrough," he said in a statement. "As a heart transplant recipient, myself with a genetic heart disorder, I am thrilled by this news and the hope it gives to my family and other patients who will eventually be saved by this breakthrough."

It will be crucial to share the data gathered from this transplant before opening the option to more patients, said Karen Maschke, a research scholar at the Hastings Center, who is helping develop ethics and policy recommendations for the first clinical trials under a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

"Rushing into animal-to-human transplants without this information would not be advisable," Maschke said.

The surgery last Friday took seven hours at the Baltimore hospital.

"He realizes the magnitude of what was done and he really realizes the importance of it," David Bennett Jr. said of his father. "He could not live, or he could last a day, or he could last a couple of days. I mean, we're in the unknown at this point."

__

AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard contributed.

WASHINGTON —

The federal government has canceled a multimillion dollar deal with Emergent BioSolutions, a Maryland-based vaccine manufacturer with facilities in Baltimore that were found to have produced millions of contaminated Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses this spring, the Washington Post reported.

Emergent disclosed the development Thursday in a conference call discussing its latest financial results, the Post reported. Emergent said it will forgo about $180 million due to the contract’s termination, according to the Post.

Emergent BioSolutions played a role in the Trump administration’s effort to speed up vaccine development and distribution. But after winning a contract from the previous administration, Emergent quickly ran into production problems.

In March, ingredients intended for use in producing the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine shots contaminated 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The problems with the vaccines caused a months-long delay in production.

After that, the Biden administration put Johnson & Johnson in direct control of vaccine production there.

In June, the Food and Drug Administration decided to discard at least another 60 million additional doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine produced at the plant.

The lapses at the Bayview factory in Baltimore hampered J&J’s efforts to be a major player in vaccinating people, particularly in remote areas and poor countries. It only requires one dose and standard refrigeration and it's also cheaper than some other vaccines. But there have been problems with the Emergent plant.

The FDA repeatedly cited Emergent in the past for problems such as poorly trained employees, cracked vials and problems managing mold and other contamination around one of its facilities, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.

BALTIMORE — What started as a small interaction in Baltimore has turned into inspiration for people around the world.

In between showings in Federal Hill Sunday, realtor Alyssia Essig parked at the Museum of Industry to eat lunch.

It’s where 19-year-old Asen Gyenyame was practicing a tough skateboard trick.

“I probably sat there for a solid 20 minutes watching him continue to try,” said Essig. “I know the power of being told that someone believes in you, so I just thought I’m gonna hop out of the car real quick, give him a little love, and then be on my way.”

And that’s what she did, unknowingly on camera.

“Whatever you do in your life, you’re going to knock it out of the park. Only because you’re sitting here, busting your (expletive) to nail this one trick. You’ll do that the rest of your life,” Essig told him.

“I didn’t expect what she gave me,” said Gyenyame.

He was inspired. Minutes later, he nailed the trick. The next day, he decided to post the interaction on TikTok.

“It got a lot of traction,” said Gyenyame.

In just a few days, it has captured the hearts of millions of people.

“I think we made the world a little better just because of it,” said Gyenyame.

But Essig had no idea… until her husbands’ friend in California saw it on Reddit.

“I was crying reading these comments because it seems like people are so starved for love and attention and affection, “said Essig.

They hadn’t even exchanged names.

Scripps Baltimore station WMAR’s Abby Isaacs found them both on social media. It brought them together for a heartfelt reunion Thursday at the place they met, the Museum of Industry parking lot.

“I love your energy, so thank you so much for giving me that support,” said Gyenyame to Essig.

What they gave the world as inspiration, but they got something out of it too.

For Gyenyame, it was supporting.

“We can support each other, and everyone doesn’t have to stand alone and be by themselves. A lot of people have the mindset, even I do. That’s why I was skating alone, that you have to do it by yourself and that’s the only way, but you can reach out to other people, and it can be beneficial for the other person,” said Gyenyame.

For Essig, it was affirmation.

“I have a very big loud personality, and I struggle. Not everyone likes that. A lot of people think it’s too much or too loud or too in your face, but when a million people like it and 30,000 comments are like, ‘You’re amazing.’ ‘Your energy is 'awesome,' it’s very reaffirming like you know what no I’m actually pretty okay and I can be who I am,” said Essig.

The pair have vowed to stay connected and carry positivity into their everyday lives.

Essig wants to start sharing words of encouragement on her TikTok page @alyssiaessig_realtor, and Gyenyame hopes his newfound following on TikTok @skatevibes01 will help turn his passion into a business where he teaches kids how to skateboard.

Abby Isaacs at WMAR first reported this story.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Five weeks ago, the Baltimore Ravens figured they’d have to win out and get some help to reach the playoffs.

After tending to their own part of the equation with four straight victories and receiving the necessary assistance last weekend in the form of losses by Cleveland and Indianapolis, all that remains for the Ravens (10-5) is one more item of business: defeat Cincinnati in the regular-season finale this Sunday.

MORE: About 10,000 fans allowed at PBS for Bengals' season finale

Getting into the postseason for the third year in a row is what’s important. Who they play if they get there is irrelevant.

“All we can focus on is the next game. Not focus on the playoffs,” Ravens tight end Mark Andrews said. “We’re just trying to get better and win this game, and the cards will fall how they fall.”

Baltimore was 5-1 before a skid that coincided with an outbreak of COVID-19 at its training facility sent the season off the rails. Four losses in five games — including three in a row before the current hot streak — can be forgotten with a victory at Cincinnati (4-10-1).

Ravens star Lamar Jackson needs 92 yards rushing to become the first quarterback in NFL history with two 1,000-yard seasons. At this juncture in the season, personal accomplishments are meaningless to the league’s reigning MVP.

“Being honest, I just want to win Sunday and come out of the game healthy,” Jackson said. “It doesn’t really matter about any records being broken, or anything like that. I just want to win to get in the playoffs.”

The Ravens have won their past three games against Cincinnati, their longtime AFC North foe. Baltimore beat the Bengals 27-3 in October before Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow’s season ended with a knee injury that brought about the emergence of Brandon Allen, who shredded Houston last week by going 29 for 37 for 371 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Cincinnati has nothing to gain except being the spoiler and ending a difficult season with a three-game winning streak.

After the Bengals went on the road to defeat the Texans 37-31, coach Zac Taylor said, “We’re out of the playoff hunt. It’s easy for guys to check out right now, and we haven’t had a single player do it. Just proud to coach these guys.”

MAINTAINING FOCUS

Following a 19-14 loss in Pittsburgh in which Jackson was sidelined with the coronavirus, Baltimore stood at 6-5 and in third place in the division. Ravens coach John Harbaugh kept spirits up with a calming directive that set the course for the rest of the season.

“I feel that coach did a great job during that time,” safety Chuck Clark said. “We were all at home on Zoom waiting for the next thing. What would be next? What’s the message? Where are we going from here? Coach did a good job of keeping us all grounded, knowing that we would all eventually overcome the situations that we had, and be able to get back out there and go win football games to be able to put ourselves in position.”

ROOKIE SENSATION

Bengals receiver Tee Higgins is on the cusp of setting a team rookie record.

Higgins has 67 catches, tied with Cris Collinsworth for most by a Bengals rookie. He was selected out of Clemson with the first pick in the second round of this year’s draft.

ROOKIE SENSATION II

Ravens rookie J.K. Dobbins has displaced Mark Ingram as the starting running back and is part of a three-tiered threat for a team that counts heavily on the run.

Jackson leads the way with 908 yards rushing, Gus Edwards has 663 and Dobbins checks in with 645 after being used sparingly early in the season.

Dobbins, a former star at Ohio State, has seven touchdowns, one in each of the past five games.

“As soon as they drafted me, my thought process was, ‘Let’s go in here, let’s get better, and I’m going to find a way to get on this field and help this team win as many games as possible — get us to a Super Bowl, if that’s possible,’” he said. “And that’s just what I’ve been doing.”

HUMBLE BUT CONFIDENT

Allen is 1-3 as a starter this year, so he wasn’t about to proclaim himself a star after tearing apart Houston’s defense last weekend.

“I’ve had a couple bad games too,” Allen said. “So I’ll take this with a grain of salt and just keep trying to get better. But I always wake up on game day with the confidence that we’re going to make all the plays we need to to win the game. And I always kind of feel like I’m going to make all the throws that I need to.”

He will tested by a Baltimore defense that has had 11 sacks in the past two games.

The NFC divisional round will give fans a third-time treat: another meeting between old-timers Tom Brady and Drew Brees.

Possibly the final one.

The AFC matchups, meanwhile, will include the Cleveland Browns for the first time since they re-entered the NFL in 1999, and Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.

Brees assured that the NFC South rival Saints and Buccaneers will meet once more, throwing for two touchdowns in a 21-9 victory over Chicago. The New Orleans quarterback, who turns 42 on Friday — one year younger than Tampa Bay's star — is toying with retirement, but with the way the Saints defense is playing, a second trip to the Super Bowl is not a long shot.

Tampa Bay (12-5) defeated Washington 31-23 on Saturday. The Bucs will travel to New Orleans (13-4) next Sunday night.

“The minute that he signed with the Bucs and came to the division, you felt like that was going to be a team to contend with, that was going to be a team that would have playoff aspirations and beyond, just like us,” Brees said of meeting Brady in the playoffs for the first time. “So, I guess it was inevitable.”

The other NFC game next weekend will be on Saturday as Green Bay (13-3 and coming off a bye) hosts the Los Angeles Rams (11-6), who downed Seattle this weekend.

In the AFC, Cleveland's return to the postseason for the first time in 18 years went very well. The Browns not only snapped a 17-game skid at Heinz Field, they manhandled the mistake-prone archrival Steelers 48-37 Sunday night. On to face reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City (14-2 and coming off a bye) next Sunday.

After two postseason flops, Jackson was his usual dynamic and decisive self in leading the Ravens to a 20-13 wild-card victory at Tennessee. That sends them to Buffalo on Saturday night.

Browns 48, Steelers 37

In their first playoff road victory since 1969, the Browns (12-5) overcame all sorts of problems and history.

Baker Mayfield threw for three touchdowns and the Browns got their first playoff win in 26 years. Kareem Hunt added two touchdown runs for Cleveland, playing without several high-profile players and head coach Kevin Stefanski due to COVID-19.

It hardly mattered as the Browns raced to a quick 28-0 lead then turned aside Pittsburgh's second-half rally. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger passed for 501 yards and four touchdowns but also threw four interceptions.

Saints 21, Bears 9

Michael Thomas and Latavius Murray caught Brees' touchdown passes, and Alvin Kamara rushed for 99 yards and a 3-yard scoring run after sitting out the regular-season finale and not practicing this past week because of COVID-19 protocols.

New Orleans (13-4) held Chicago (8-9) to 239 yards, just 48 rushing.

“Our defense played outstanding,” coach Sean Payton said. “We tackled well in space. ... Ultimately we forced them to become one-dimensional, and when you do that you’re going to win a lot of games.”

The Saints won both meetings with the Bucs during the regular season.

Ravens 20, Titans 13

Some first steps are far longer than others. Such as what Jackson achieved Sunday.

He isn't in any way the only reason Baltimore is advancing — the defense shut down 2,000-yard rusher Derrick Henry like no other team has come close to doing. But he was a positive contributor, unlike in losses to the Chargers and Titans in his other playoff appearances.

Jackson ran for 136 yards and a 48-yard touchdown while throwing for 179 more, rallying the Ravens from a 10-0 hole. The Ravens (12-5) went 21 straight losses in either the regular season or playoffs when trailing by 10 or more points.

Despite being sacked five times and throwing an interception, Jackson turned in the sixth 100-yard rushing game by a quarterback in the postseason, and joined Colin Kaepernick with two.

“We stayed focused. We didn’t get rattled. Our coaches didn’t get rattled. We had to put points on the board," Jackson said. “I throw an interception, a dumb interception. We just kept fighting.”

Especially the defense: Henry had his worst performance this season with 18 carries for 40 yards and the Titans (11-6) were held to their fewest points of the season.

“Our defense was tired of hearing the noise,” Jackson said. "And they did what they were supposed to do.”

SATURDAY

Buccaneers 31, Washington 23

In his first postseason game wearing a uniform other than New England's, Brady showed why he was so responsible for the Patriots' two-decade dynasty. While leading his new team, the Buccaneers (12-5), to their first playoff win since Tampa Bay won the 2002 championship, Brady extended his record for playoff victories to 31. He threw for 381 yards and two touchdowns in his 42nd postseason start.

“You could win 100-0 and it’s going to be the same result in the end," Brady said. “You’d love to play great every game; I think it’s good to win and advance. If we don’t play well next week, we’re not going to be happy. Glad we won, glad we have another week of work.”

Bills 27, Colts 24

At Buffalo, there actually was a playoff game played, for the first time in 15 years. And won by the Bills, the AFC East champions for the first time since 1995. Josh Allen threw two touchdown passes and scored another rushing, and the Bills (14-3) knocked down a desperation pass by Philip Rivers to end the game.

The Bills have won seven in a row.

“We understand that whatever’s going on in the game, we feel like we’ve got a chance,” Allen said. “That’s just based on how we play, how we trust one another, how we care for one another, how we practice. Just the foundation. ... It is a family-like atmosphere here and we want to do everything in our power not to let each other down.”

Rams 30, Seahawks 20

At Seattle, a staunch defensive performance by the league's top-ranked unit lifted Los Angeles (11-6) into the divisional round. The Rams, even with unanimous All-Pro DT Aaron Donald sitting out much of the second half with a rib injury, rattled Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, sacking him five times and getting a pick-6 from Darious Williams. LA also shut down the Seattle rushing attack.

"We expected to do this," Rams coach Sean McVay said. "Nobody acted surprised.”

BALTIMORE —

If you're still hesitant about getting a vaccine or don't want to mask up, one young man said he hopes his story will help change your mind.

In March 2021, Blake Bargatze, 24, went to a concert in Florida where he lived. He thought the crowd would be small. Bargatze was not vaccinated, and he did wear a mask.

"Once I got in there, there was way too many and I got really hot, so I took it (mask) off, which probably wasn't the wisest decision on my part," Bargatze said.

His mother Cheryl Nuclo wasn't happy with him.

"When I found out he went to that concert, I was pretty upset about it," Nuclo said.

Two days later, Bargatze was diagnosed with COVID-19.

"I had a really bad headache and body aches and after that, I started having a really high fever -- went from 102 to 103 and up to 104," Bargatze said.

On April 10, he was admitted to the hospital where it went downhill quickly. He had to be intubated and the coronavirus was damaging his lungs. His mother had him flown to his native Atlanta where she lived. That's where Bargatze got bad news.

"They gave the choice saying, 'We could either get a double lung transplant, which is the only way you have to survive or we're going to make you comfortable enough so you can pass,'" Bargatze said.

Bargatze decided to fight.

"He couldn't get out of bed, he couldn't walk -- he could raise his fingers, basically," Nuclo said.

After making inquiries all over, Bargatze finally decided on the University of Maryland Medical Center since they had done two successful double lung transplants on COVID-19 patients.

"He was young, determined, willing to move to Baltimore," said Dr. Robert Reed, medical director for lung transplantation at University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Reed said they thought they could help Bargatze.

"His lungs looked awful. They looked like little chunks of liver. They didn't look like lungs at all, they were red, they were foggy. There was no saving those lungs," Reed said. "COVID-19 just destroyed them just chewed them up."

Bargatze got the transplant in June, went through rehab and is now living in Ellicott City with his mother while he recovers. He takes 50 pills a day.

"I just try to make the best of it. I'm here, I'm alive today and I'm thankful," he said.

Bargatze said the pills he'll take for the rest of his life, and his scar will forever remind him of what he went through.

"I would strongly encourage getting the vaccine to protect yourself and your family, and if you're against the vaccine, at least be courteous and wear a mask wherever you go. This isn't always about ourselves, it's about the people around us," Bargatze said.

In some places, it can be easy to think a crime scene is just a part of life.

“When you just look at the murders, you can problematize people. You can problematize Baltimoreans, and you can ignore this entire system that is causing this number that you see," said Erricka Bridgeford.

But in cities that have long dealt with the issue of violence, the type of loss felt a crime scene fuels those working for change.

"In 2004, my little cousin's father got murdered, so it just kept happening and I was like, OK, I need to do something," said Jakia Jones.

Jones works with Bridgeford, who is the founder of Baltimore Ceasefire 365.

The group organizes citywide ceasefires in hopes of stopping the violence Baltimore has come to know all too well.

“The idea of using collective consciousness to just raise Baltimore’s vibration," Bridgeford explained.

The cause of crime is complicated, to say the least.

“Joblessness, homelessness, food insecurity, and education," Bridgeford listed. "All the things are prevalent in Black and brown communities, which tells you there is a system in place that is violently attacking a particular group of people and making these kinds of things show up in cities all across America.”

Bridgeford believes at least part of the answer to stopping violence can be found in places like Baltimore's Community Mediation Center.

“People can really come and talk about anything, so neighbor dispute, landlord-tenant, baby momma drama," Bridgeford said.

The Mediation Center is a safe space for people to speak their minds.

“There’s this myth that oh in Baltimore, all the violence is happening because of drugs, so I was looking at this research that really showed reason that people end up getting killed, and drug disputes is definitely a part of it, but by and large, most of it is misunderstandings in conflicts that people couldn’t resolve," Bridgeford said.

“It’s not a big city problem. It’s not a red or blue problem. It really is an American problem," said crime data analyst Jeff Asher.

Across the country, crime is down overall in the pandemic with offenses like shoplifting and burglary happening less often, but when Asher and his company AH Datalytics looked at preliminary crime data from more than 70 cities nationwide, he saw a darker reality.

“Last year, we had an enormous increase in murder, that somewhere likely 25 to 30 percent or higher, likely the largest increase in order we have ever seen," Asher said.

2021 could be even worse. As of August, murders are up more than 12 percent on top of 2020's rise.

“Racism is already an epidemic. Oppression is already an epidemic. Violence has already been an epidemic, and so when you put a global pandemic on top of those things, absolutely," said Bridgeford of the rise in homicides nationwide.

Baltimore is now trying to take a different approach to prevent violence in the city.

“Too often we’ve tried to police our way out of our problems, and we see that simply does not work," said Baltimore City Council member Zeke Cohen.

Cohen is helping lead a first-of-its-kind effort to change the thinking around violence by having city employees go through training sessions to learn skills like de-escalation tactics. The first city group to start the training is the Enoch Pratt Free Library.

“Librarians are at their heart. People who want to connect people to information, access, and resources," said Heidi Daniel, CEO of Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Free Library.

City librarians are going through special training to understand the trauma of those who may come into their libraries and are struggling with issues that can lead to crime.

“I think that the more that we can build their tool kit and capacity to respond appropriately to situations that arise in our community, the better partner we are the city to reduce crime and other issues," Daniel said.

The goal is to train all city employees in Baltimore, with the hopes, other cities can take the same approach.

“We’re acknowledging what happened to people is wrong, it’s abnormal. We need to be able to discuss it and we need to give folks the tools the vocabulary and language to heal," Cohen said.

The efforts are what he and others, like Bridgeford, are working for, finding peaceful ways to solve a problem Baltimore has long grappled with.

Beatboxing and raising awareness on suicide prevention — the two mixed together is what one Baltimore artist is about to debut at Carnegie Hall.

In open city spaces, Dominic Talifero, better known as Shodekeh, is in his element. At age 9, Shodekeh said he experienced different forms of abuse and turned to beatboxing to overcome suicidal thoughts and save himself.

"I had my first battle with ideation at around 9 years old," he said. "But unconsciously, I was looking for a way to creatively reclaim my body and reclaim my existence."

He is a survivor who says he's still learning. His debut piece, called Vodalities, draws inspiration from the environment. Starting with "breath art," he can imitate things you'd find in a forest, like wind, transitioning next into what's called vocal percussion and finally beatboxing -- a reflection of the environment using the acoustics inside a tunnel. He is creating a voice with a message.

"At the end of the day, I’m still the only one who can get out of my way. The people who have hurt me can't do that for me," he said.

Changing up the scenes, Shodekeh's talent goes to Carnegie Hall this winter. It's something he wants particularly black youth to hear.

"It's exciting and it's also equally terrifying," he said.

His beatboxing saved his life, and he is hoping to save more.

Watch the video above for the full story.

A Baltimore restaurant is taking the city's indoor mask mandate one step further and is requiring customers to bring proof of COVID-19 vaccination in order to enter. The policy is plastered on the front door of Silver Queen Cafe — customers ages 12 and up only get in if they have proof they're fully vaccinated.Jason Daniloski, the co-owner of Silver Queen Cafe, said he rather potentially lose his business than lose a life. Daniloski put the new policy in place last week Friday."We just kind of took the plunge. It's a little awkward. I used to be a doorman a long time ago, so it almost feels like you're in the club again checking IDs when you come in," he said.Customers who refuse to show proof or wear a mask indoors will have to wait outside to pick up food or dine at tables out front."Customers have been very supportive, and it was scary because we do need every cent. It's a scary time when you need every cent, and to make up for lost revenue from last year," Daniloski said.Currently, Baltimore City is under a reinstated indoor mask mandate, as COVID-19 cases continue to rise. So far, the city's positivity rate sits at 2.6% while Baltimore has seen a 439% rise in cases within the last four weeks.Daniloski is taking a stance, trying to keep the COVID-19 numbers down, even if it means putting safety over profit."It was just a risk we had to take. I mean, I'd rather lose my business than my life, or my family's life, or anybody else's life," Daniloski said.The owners said the policy will remain in place until cases begin to drop.

A Maryland baker is doing what she can to give back to the community one cookie at a time.

Julie Rewers' latest project involves making sure kids have water to drink in school.

"We have raspberry lemonade, which is a raspberry lemon sugar cookie; we have chocolate chip; Oriole dreamsicle, which is an orange cream sugar cookie; and then oatmeal raisin," Rewers said.

Those are just a few of the cookie flavors Rewers sells at farmers markets and food truck events. For the Baltimore baker and entrepreneur, each sale is important. She calls her business "Cookies for a Cause Maryland" because a portion of the proceeds go to help people in need.

"I usually donate 20% of my proceeds to the food bank, but I will also be donating to other specific local causes," Rewers said.

Her latest mission is to provide bottled water to students in Baltimore City and Baltimore County public schools. It's a project she started March 1 after seeing on social media that water fountains wouldn't be in operation because of the pandemic.

"So far, we've donated 4,600 water bottles and about 300 to 400 cases of water to about eight different schools," Rewers said.

She lives by the motto: "Cookies will save the world."

"So, cookies will save the world. It's definitely a motto that I go by. It's something that seems so small and, like, doesn't seem it will get you very far," Rewers said.

But it does go far to help others, one cookie at a time.

RANDALLSTOWN, Md. —

Last week, Darlene Wheatley, 62, was the 1,000th COVID-19 patient discharged from Northwestern Hospital in Randallstown, Maryland.

Wheatley spoke with sister station WBAL after losing her mother to the virus and then getting sick herself.

Wheatley was overjoyed to go home. She ended up at Northwest Hospital earlier this month after getting COVID-19. She believes her 86-year-old mother Dorothy Lemon gave it to her.

After helping her mother, Wheatley quarantined at home. Then she started feeling sick herself and went to the hospital.

"They determined I had double pneumonia. That was a result of COVID, it had attacked my lungs," Wheatley said.

While at the hospital, her mother, who was at Sinai Hospital, died.

Wheatley’s mother didn’t know she was sick, but she had one request for her daughter.

"She said 'All I want you to do is just pray for me so I can get out of here and don't just pray, pray hard.' And I promised her that that's what I would do," Wheatley said.

Watch Darlene Wheatley being released from Northwest Hospital

Wheatley can't get vaccinated for eight weeks, but she encourages everyone who can to get vaccinated now.

"Believe in your heart that this thing is real, it is nothing that you want to be bothered with. It's scary and it will take your life. We just need to try to get together and try to fight this," Wheatley said.

Related video above: Horseracing returns to Pimlico as crews prepare for Preakness

Rombauer romped to an 11-1 upset victory in the Preakness on Saturday, denying Bob Baffert-trained Kentucky Derby winner Medina Sprint the chance at a Triple Crown that would have come with a giant asterisk.

Medina Spirit finished third in the 1 3/16-mile race and was passed for the first time in his career after going off as the 2-1 favorite. All eyes were on Medina Spirit after he failed a post-Derby drug test for the presence of the steroid betamethasone.

Midnight Bourbon, who was 3-1, was second. Keepmeinmind was fourth and Baffert-trained Concert Tour ninth in the 10-horse field.

Rombauer busted the bias of horses hugging the rail, going past Midnight Bourbon and Medina Spirit down the stretch and winning by 3 1/2 lengths.

Jockey Flavien Prat won the Preakness two years after being elevated to the Derby winner aboard Country House when Maximum Security was disqualified.

Trainer Michael McCarthy won his first Triple Crown race and captured the Preakness before Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, for whom he worked as an assistant before opening his own barn.

Rombauer is owned by John and Diane Fradkin, a far cry from Medina Spirit's Zedan Racing Stables and other horse racing conglomerates. He won for the third time in seven starts.

McCarthy said this week Rombauer's best weapon was between his ears and that his colt was training well. But few picked the long shot to win the Preakness, which was run in front of 10,000 fans at Pimlico Race Course.

Baffert was not in attendance, staying away because of the controversy with Medina Spirit, who still could be disqualified from the Derby.