A 103-year-old woman from Massachusetts is being hailed a “legend” after she recently celebrated her victory over the deadly coronavirus by cracking open an ice-cold bottle of beer.
As the New York Post reported, Jennie Stejna was declared virus-free on May 13 after fighting the disease for 20 days, and she knew exactly how she wanted to commemorate the incredible occasion — with a frosty Bud Light.
The elderly woman from Easton was actually the first person at her nursing facility, Life Care Center of Wilbraham, to contract the novel coronavirus.
As her grandson told the Post , Stejna’s battle began with a low-grade fever before her condition worsened and she wound up in a separate COVID-19 unit.
“We were hopeful, but then things started to trend downward so we were bracing for the worst,” David Stejna explained. “She lost her appetite and getting her to stay hydrated was challenging.”
As the virus weakened the already legally blind and wheelchair-bound grandmother, her family prepared themselves for tragic news.
On May 3, they called Stejna to say their goodbyes. Her granddaughter’s husband, Adam Gunn, asked the ailing woman if she was ready to pass on, to which she replied, “Hell yes,” a telling sign of her enduring spirit.
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But just one day after the tearful phone calls were made, a miracle happened.
Stejna, nicknamed “The Sheriff” for her tough-as-nails personality, actually began recovering from the deadly disease and even woke up to declare that she was “not sick anymore.”
On May 13, this incredible granny was officially determined to have fully recovered from the coronavirus, and that was certainly cause for celebration.
Stenja’s request for an ice-cold bottle of Bud Light to mark the occasion may have raised some staff members’ eyebrows, but her family was unfazed.
David explained that some of his fondest summer memories have to do with his Polish-American grandmother hosting cookouts and taking the kids for ice cream, while also making sure to stop and pick herself up a treat as well. However, hers were more of the sudsy, adult-beverage variety.
“She would say, ‘You gotta have a cold beer when it’s hot out during the summertime,’ ” David recalled. “Later in the day she would say, ‘I think I’m gonna split a beer.’ She would never say, ‘I am going to have one.’ She’d sip about two and would do it sort of on the down low.”
After she got a six-pack of Bud Light in her hands, Stejna became one happy patient.
“She put it to her lips and said, ‘Ooh, that’s cold. It’s good when it’s cold,’ ” David said.
“She’s feisty and tenacious,” he continued of his beloved, beer-chugging grandma. “She is legendary in so many different ways. She speaks her mind and doesn’t put up with anything.”
h/t: New York Post
