WATCH: Ellen DeGeneres gives Filipino-American nurse brand-new SUV

Filipino-American nurse Flor Roz (left) inside her new car from Ellen DeGeneres (right). Image: Screengrab from YouTube/TheEllenShow

Ellen DeGeneres surprised a Filipino-American nurse with a brand-new SUV to thank her for her service amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The talk-show host posted a video of the thoughtful gesture on her program’s YouTube page last Wednesday, Dec. 9. DeGeneres told the Los Angeles-based nurse, Flor Roz, that a team would interview her for a feature on frontliners. But little did Roz know that she was about to receive a new vehicle.

During the fake interview, Roz detailed how the pandemic has changed her life and job.

“I became a nurse because since I was a kid, I love helping people. The pandemic has changed everything,” she said.

“People who are sick, since they cannot be visited by their family, I will be the one who’s gonna be by their side and let them know that there is this person who loves them,” Roz added.

However, she has also been away from her family for months to avoid possibly exposing her husband and their 2-year-old son to the coronavirus.

“It’s just heartbreaking not to see your family. But I can’t do anything but to be strong for them,” she expressed.

Roz also contracted COVID-19 back in March, causing her to stop working for a while. Her time off from work affected their family financially as her husband has been out of a job as well amid the crisis.

She added that she sometimes has to hitch a ride with her coworkers just to get to her job since she and her husband only share one car.

When Ellen and executive producer Andy Lassner brought the new SUV to a home Roz was staying at, the nurse could not help but cry. After expressing their gratitude for Roz’s work, the two asked her to sit in the SUV, saying, “This is your car.”

“Just know how much we love you and appreciate you and when you’re exhausted, in those times that you can barely go on anymore, just remember how many people love you and how many people are so grateful for you,” DeGeneres added. “Thank you for what you do.”  /ra

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