Kelly Loughlin '14 Blocks COVID-19 Spread in Honolulu

Throughout the Fall, The University of Scranton sports information office will be profiling former Royal student-athletes who are on the front lines in the battle against the spread of COVID-19. Their first profile features Kelly Johnson-Loughlin, a former volleyball student-athlete (2010-2013). Check their site for these profiles and athletics news.

In her playing days at Scranton, Kelly Loughlin (maiden name Johnson) was known for her blocking abilities at the net as a four-year letter winner for the volleyball team, finishing her career in the top ten all-time in two major statistical categories in program history - solo blocks (121, 6th all-time), and total blocks (265, 9th all-time).

Since March, Loughlin has been trying to block something else -- the spread of COVID-19 in her community. 

A 2014 nursing graduate from The University of Scranton, Loughlin serves as an Emergency Room Nurse at The Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she resides with her husband Dom and two dogs, Fetty and Kona.

At her job, Loughlin has been putting in 12-hour shifts to meet the demand COVID-19 has had in her hospital.

A native of Pearl River, NY, Loughlin has also experienced what many of us around the country have had to deal with - the reality of not being able to see friends and family that live far away.

“Living this far from home has been a challenge and now because of the pandemic we haven’t seen our family in over a year due to travel restrictions,” she said. “Hawaii has basically been on lockdown and making it very difficult to leave the island/return to the island. We had several trips home planned from February through September, all of them being cancelled.”

See more photos here.