WOONSOCKET, R.I. (WPRI) — When Bill McGuire heard his phone buzzing on Friday, he thought he was being called back into work.
The Woonsocket resident has been a nurse at Kent Hospital for more than 20 years, and said he wasn’t expecting the news he received.
McGuire was one of 76 local health care workers invited to attend Super Bowl LV in Tampa this Sunday.
“I was in shock,” he said. “I’m still in shock.”
McGuire said this will be his first day off since Nov. 30.
“It’s normally a stressful job to begin with, but the pandemic just stacked it and it hasn’t gone away for almost a year,” he said. “To just have a true day off … I can’t wait. I won’t even answer my phone for work.”
The trip is made possible by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. McGuire, who said he’s a huge Patriots fan, never thought in his wildest dreams something like this would happen to him.
“You know, [I thought] maybe one day I’d win a ticket to Gillette [Stadium], not go to a Super Bowl,” McGuire said. “This is just nuts. This is crazy.”
McGuire said he’s not only looking forward to the game, but he’s also excited to fly on the AirKraft.
“I’m sure I’m never going to fly this type of class ever again,” McGuire said with a laugh.
“I don’t even know what to say,” he continued. “I understand a lot of people are doing what I’m doing, but it’s just amazing. To be selected is humbling, very humbling.”
McGuire said he will be rooting for former Patriots Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski on Sunday. When asked if he thought the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would win and Brady would get a seventh ring, he said: “no doubt.”
