IRONDEQUIOT, N.Y. — As life continues to return to some semblance of “normal” in the pandemic, one local woman’s story serves as a reminder that many people who caught COVID-19 are still struggling. Dianne Bernardo of Irondequoit is using her struggle as motivation for a big goal.  

Certain tasks are sometimes easily taken for granted. This includes simple ones, such as making peanut butter and cracker snacks in her kitchen, which Bernardo could not do just a few months ago.

What You Need To Know

  • Dianne Bernardo is using her COVID struggle as motivation for a big goal — to dance with her son at his wedding

  • While hospitalized, Dianne was in a coma for two weeks

  • After missing Christmas, birthdays and New Year’s Day, on January 6 Dianne was finally able to come home

  • Living, for Dianne Bernardo, means no longer taking any simple task for granted

“I don’t always remember things,” said Dianne. “Even short-term memory. Did I just do that or didn’t I just do that?”

Some things are lost in a fog; things that she’s still trying to get back five months after testing positive for COVID-19.

When she went into the hospital on December 14, her husband Gene began keeping a diary. Now, it helps her fill in the blanks from a three-and-a-half week hospital stay.

“I dropped her off at the emergency [room] and they put her in a wheelchair,” said Gene Bernardo, Dianne’s husband of 42 years. “That's it.”

While hospitalized, Dianne was in a coma for two weeks. It was terrible. When she was conscious, she saw a hospital system stretched to the limit with COVID patients.

“I was in a mindset that this was my last place,” she said. “I had dreamed that I went home twice. And they sent me back. And I was so angry, because I thought my family abandoned me.”

With no visitors allowed at the hospital due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases, Dianne felt isolated.

“I was angry, and then when I did talk to them, I said some of the most horrific things that I’m ashamed I said,” she said. “But really didn't know the difference.”

After missing Christmas, birthdays and New Year’s Day, Dianne was finally able to come home on January 6.

“COVID’s taken over her life, and all of ours,” said Gene.

“Yeah, it's affected everybody in the family, one way or another,” added Dianne.

Once home, it still wasn’t easy. Even now, Dianne still needs a cane to help her walk. Physical therapy has been intense. It helped her get strong enough to take a family trip to Florida in March. One goal she set when she first got out of the hospital.

“I see improvement,” said Dianne. 

Still, there are moments when Dianne’s mind is foggy. She’s able to drive, but won’t take the expressway.  

Things still move way too fast.

“COVID is still...this disease is still running my life,” she said.

It’s a life taken now in small steps, but with big goals. Her son Geno is getting married in September. Dianne hopes to be able to dance with him, without a cane.

“I've told my son, get my dance card out and fill it up,” she said. “Because I'm dancing every dance at that wedding.”

Living, for Dianne Bernardo, means no longer taking any simple task for granted.

“It’s real,” she said of her bout with COVID. “And you don’t know if you’re going to be the guy who gets it bad.”