Bernadette Gaudio survived unimaginable atrocity after he son was killed and she was paralyzed when two gunmen broke into her Lower Merion home in a violent incident that erupted after her home was mistakenly targeted in a theft gone awry.
And now, she’s working with an organization in an effort to spread hope and help families just like hers.
Recently, Gaudio joined Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele as officials presented her with a posthumous “Civilian Commendation for Heroism” award for her son, Andrew Gaudio.
Gaudio’s 25-year-old son was killed and she was paralyzed in a shooting on Dec. 8, 2024, when two men broke into the Gaudios’ Lower Merion home after mistakenly believing the property had firearms they hoped to steal.
Charles Fulforth and Kelvin Roberts, along with another man, Jeremy Fuentes, have been sentenced to life in prison for their roles in this crime.
During the award presentation, Gaudio told NBC10’s Deanna Durante that she will always remember her son for his sense of humor.
“It was his great sense of humor and just the light that he brought,” she said, when asked what she remembered most about her son.
And, during the day, Gaudio said she hoped to celebrate the actions of many who saved her life that day.
And, since that day, she’s been faced with a medical disability that has robbed her of doing many things that she used to enjoy.
“People don’t understand you’re in this shell of this body and you are yourself, and you have to continue on in life knowing all the things you could do and can no longer do.”
And, Gaudio said, she has been working with a local nonprofit group called Help Hope Live, that helps support her, and those like her, to afford all of the new costs she faces following the shooting that left her paralyzed.
“While we are all thinking about all the things that are difficult in our daily journey, imagine, you know, not just me, people who have these long journeys with a medical disability. It’s costly and it’s challenging everyday just to get out of bed.”
Kelly Green, executive director of the Radnor-based Help Hope Live, said the group has been working to help people cover medical expenses for decades.
And, Green said, they work to cover things that people might not realize that they need, but medical insurance doesn’t cover.
“If you have a spinal cord injury, for instance, and it’s sudden onset, your life has changed forever. You can’t get back into your house without a ramp,” she said. “And, no one is going to give you a ramp. Your health insurance isn’t going to buy you a ramp.”
Also, home renovations like lowered kitchen countertops, wider doorways or bathroom updates are covered by Help Hope Live, but not medical insurance.
“There are so many expenses that go beyond what insurance covers,” she said.
She also noted that recent hospital closures across the region and government cutbacks to social services has impacted patients in need.
Green said she got involved with Help Hope Live about 19 years ago when her mother needed a kidney transplant.
She said, unlike other crowd funding sites, Help Hope Live helps raise money and pays medical bills directly, to ensure a patient’s income and benefit status is unchanged.
For Green, she said, the work that Help Hope Live provided gave her six more years with her mom and, with the work they do everyday, they look to provide the same gifts to other families.
To learn more about Help Hope Live, click here.