EASTON, Mass. (TEGNA) — Jennie Stejna, a 103-year-old great-great-grandma, survived the coronavirus and celebrated with an ice cold Bud Light.
The Polish-American woman was the first person to contract COVID-19 at her Wilbraham, Massachusetts nursing home, and she became the first person at the facility to beat it. The 103-year-old fought the virus for about 20 days, her granddaughter, Shelley Gunn, told Wicked Local.
Family members told the New York Post they were hopeful when Stejna was first diagnosed, but then things started to trend downward and they were "bracing for the worst."
The family said their goodbyes when Jennie's condition worsened.
When Shelley's husband, Adam Gunn, asked whether Stejna was ready to go to heaven, she replied, “Hell yes.”
But then the next day, her family was stunned when Stejna woke up and said, "I’m not sick.” The New York Post reported that the wheelchair-bound and legally blind grandma was annoyed at the crowd of people in her room.
She officially tested negative for the virus on May 13.
“This feisty old Polish grandmother of ours officially beat the coronavirus,” Adam Gunn said.
To celebrate overcoming the virus, the nursing home staff gave Stejna an ice cold Bud Light, something she loved but hadn’t had in a long time, Gunn said.
Her celebratory drink also got the attention of Bud Light, who tweeted out her story.
"The news we need right now. Your next beer is on us, Jennie," Bud Light tweeted.
Gunn added that even before her battle with coronavirus, she "could run circles around anyone." She lived and worked at a mill with her husband of 54 years, Teddy, until his death in 1992.
Stejna worked into her 80s and was an avid bingo player, loved to crochet and was a hardcore Boston sports fan, Wicked Local said. New York Post said she has two children, three grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
