Coronavirus News: NJ health care workers win rapper Pitbull's dance contest

ByKemberly Richardson WABC logo

Monday, April 27, 2020

NJ health care workers win rapper Pitbull's dance contest

Kemberly Richardson has more on star singer and rapper Pitbull delivering a special message and surprise to hospital workers in New Jersey.

STAFFORD TOWNSHIP, New Jersey (WABC) -- Star singer and rapper Pitbull delivered a special message and surprise for some hospital workers in New Jersey, who showed off their dance moves to his uplifting song about the coronavirus pandemic.

The emergency team showed a different side of themselves during these extraordinary times.

"We need to really let loose sometimes," said Jenna Schaal, of Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin. "And we're always with each other. It's just fun for five minutes to get your mind off the virus."

The doctors and nurses at the hospital heard Pitbull was having a contest for medical workers to show off their best dance moves, so Dr. Justin Skolnick said he called Schall.

"Immediately she's like, 'Be in the ambulance bay at 8 o'clock tonight, I'll have 20 people there. Let's do this,'" Skolnick said. "I'm like, 'We're in.'"

And so at the end of a 12-hour shift, they danced -- a way for them to let the community know they are hanging in there.

"We come back everyday," Schaal said. "Garb up to fight the virus, but we're OK. And we're supporting each other, have each other's backs."

The workers were wondering if Pitbull would see the video, and turns out the superstar did. He sent a special shout out and thanked them for a job well done.

"It gave me goosebumps, and I cried tears of joy," Pitbull said.

Pitbull let the group know that they had won and would be featured in his music video.

"It's certainly an inspirational song and something we like to listen to to pump us up before a shift and after a shift," Skolnick said.