IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. — When Dianne Bernard was recovering from a three-week hospital stay after getting COVID, she knew the road back would be taken in small steps. The Irondequoit woman also had a goal: to be well enough to dance with her son at his September wedding.  

It’s a goal she was able to reach, and then some.

Bernardo tested positive for COVID-19 late last year. Her health quickly deteriorated. Bernardo wound up in a coma, and was hospitalized for three-and-a-half weeks.  

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

On Sept. 10, Dianne reached the goal that she set for herself when she was hospitalized — dancing with son Geno at his wedding. It was a day she fought hard for.

“It was pretty special,” said Bernardo. "I think that was a very moving for everybody. I know it usually is anyway. But I think because of the circumstances."

So many COVID stories ended in tragedy. Dianne’s is still being written. When she danced with her son, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

“There were a lot of tears,” she said. “Just because we made it. We did it.”

It was a moment that now motivates her to make a difference. Dianne has a new goal. When her husband dropped her off at the hospital, Dianne could have no visitors.

“[I] just didn’t want to be there alone anymore,” she recalled.  

COVID or not — she believes that’s cruel. Bernardo says she wants to make sure it doesn’t keep happening. 

“Keeping people isolated in the hospital is wrong,” she said.

Bernardo is determined to fight that fight as hard as she did to reach her first goal.

“I was going to do it,” she said of the dance. “I don't think I thought I was going to do it as well as I did,” she laughed.

She’s not exactly sure how to make it happen. But she’s looking for help.