BARCELONA, Spain – As a member of the UT Arlington men's tennis team, Eduard Simo had seen his fair share of volunteer work while serving on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee at UTA, but over the past month and a half he's taken it up a notch with the community service he's performing in his home country of Spain.
 
It all began when the junior marketing major was sent home to Barcelona after the 2020 tennis season abruptly ended due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. Upon returning to the six-story apartment complex he grew up in with his parents and two siblings – just a floor above his grandparents – Simo first had to overcome the infirmity his entire family became stricken with just days before his arrival.
 
"Once I got to Barcelona, both of my grandparents were sick for like four days before the lockdown began, but they didn't know what it was yet," said Simo. "Once I got here, my grandma started getting worse and they had to take her to the hospital. She was there for 20 days. My grandpa had the coronavirus too. Then we realized all of us had the coronavirus here in my house, including me."
 
Other than his grandma, Simo's grandpa, parents and two siblings passed the virus before anyone began experiencing symptoms of a critical nature.
 
"I had a headache for like three days and that was it," said Simo. "My sister had a fever for like a day and my mom felt bad for a couple days, but that was pretty much it."
 
After Simo received his diagnosis at the hospital, he and his entire family quarantined themselves on the third floor of their four-bedroom apartment for fourteen days. Once the two-week period passed and his symptoms subsided, Simo headed back to the hospital ready to make a difference.
 
"Once I went back to the hospital and they told me I had passed it, I texted my friend and said 'hey, I'm free to work now.'"
 
The friend he was referring to is Francesc Terns, a life-long companion of Simo's who started an organization called Health Warriors – a movement aimed at providing healthcare workers the support and encouragement they need through the donation of prepared meals.
 
"The first thing I did was reach out to him to ask if I could help him," said Simo. "I couldn't see myself staying at home locked down for two months. So, I was like, 'I want to help you and plus, I'll get the chance to go outside.'"
 
With the police in Spain handing out $500 tickets for anyone caught out in the city without authorization, the first thing Simo had to do was get himself a permit in order to join his friend. Once he was granted permission, Simo began joining the Health Warriors every Tuesday and Thursday, helping build the initiative from a small group of 15 people to about 50 volunteers.
 
"What we're doing is we're sending an email every morning to like 100 restaurants in Barcelona," said Simo. "If they say they're willing to collaborate with us, they tell us how many meals they can provide and we go there to pick them up and drop them off at various hospitals."
 
As of last week, Health Warriors has donated 6,325 servings of food to 64 different places including hospitals, prisons, police and fire stations and more. Terns now has 102 restaurants donating food on a weekly basis and 44 different collaborating brands that donate drinks, desserts and snacks.
 
"We actually have a storage unit in the middle of the city in Barcelona where we have all the drinks, snacks and desserts delivered and stored," said Simo. "We go to the restaurants to pick up the meals, then we go to storage to pick up drinks and desserts and then we head to the hospitals."
 
Health Warriors has received donations of products from local and artisan brands to large multinational companies. Everything that is donated is cooked and delivered in the form of a message of strength, support and recognition.
 
"It's very gratifying for me because you go to these hospitals that are overloaded with so many people and doctors," said Simo. "We go there and bring big boxes of food and they are just so happy. They all start clapping. Every single doctor comes out and says thank you. They're doing like 12 hour turns, so it's the least we could do for them."
 
Even though Simo contracted COVID-19 and his doctors told him he should be immune, the tennis player is still taking the necessary precautions in order to work alongside his fellow volunteers – who up to a few weeks ago, did not know each other at all.
 
"I'm still washing my hands like a hundred times a day," said Simo. "I'm using a mask and putting gloves on every time I go outside. I don't get closer to people more than six feet."
 
Over the past month and a half, Eduard has endured this experience by making the best of it through his volunteer work. As the time passes, Eduard's longing for the tennis court only strengthens while the streets of Barcelona remain a ghost town compared to the hustle-and-bustle the city is normally used to at this time of year.
 
"I have been playing tennis for like 20 years and now that I haven't gotten to play for like a month and a half now; it's just so weird for me," said Simo. "To be in lockdown at home not playing tennis, not seeing anyone basically outside of the people I'm working with now, it's just weird."
 
As Eduard patiently awaits the start of his senior year back in Arlington, Texas, the loss of tennis isn't the only thing on his mind.
 
"I live in an apartment with my teammates," said Simo, when asked about what he's missing most about living in the states. "We have two apartments for the whole team. I miss the chance to go to practice every day. The chance to go to school and then go back to the apartments to hang out with the guys on the team. That's like everything in itself."
 
His teammates have served Simo well on the court too as the junior was distinguished with an All-Sun Belt Second Team (doubles) selection in 2019. Over the past two seasons, Simo has a 23-13 record in double-match play – including a 5-1 mark this past year with freshman Solano Caffarena. Simo finished 18 singles matches before the 2020 season was unexpectedly cut short with an 8-10 record.
 
"We are so very proud of what Eduard is doing back home in his country Spain," said Diego Benitez, Simo's head tennis coach at UTA. "Helping his community and putting his own safety on the line to bring joy to those affected by the pandemic. Eduard has been a great leader for our team. He's taken the team on his shoulders and has been an instrumental part in the success of our program."
 
While Eduard continues to miss his UTA tennis family and patiently awaits his return back to Texas, for the foreseeable future he plans to continue assisting the very same healthcare workers who first took care of him.