NAZARETH, Pennsylvania (WPVI) — A woman from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania spends her day caring for others, even while she battles some health issues of her own.<\/p>\n
Deanna Brunner could teach everyone a lesson on resilience. At 73 years old, she takes two buses to and from work every day at Gracedale Nursing Home in Nazareth.<\/p>\n
“I’ve always been a go-getter, just keep on going,” said Brunner, who’s a CNA and therapeutic recreation aid at the nursing home.<\/p>\n
Like it has for a lot of people, this year has been challenging for Brunner. In January she found out she has cancer.<\/p>\n
“I go day by day and I’m just doing what I have to do, and as far as working, I want to keep moving, keep busy,” she said.<\/p>\n
While she was going through chemo, COVID-19 hit, and Brunner kept going to work despite the risks to herself. Her family can’t help but not to worry.<\/p>\n
“We have this routine when she gets home where she’ll shower and we’ll disinfect everything down and I tell her to make sure she has her masks on, which they do at her job,” said her daughter, Katrina Shelly Kelly.<\/p>\n
The bad news kept coming for family, however. Last month, they got a letter from the city saying they needed to paint their house to keep up with a code. They didn’t know how they were going to pay for it, then the community stepped in.<\/p>\n
“We got some donations from Lowe’s and Ace Supply. We got a ladder from one of the neighbors. We’re so grateful the community rallied together,” said Kelly.<\/p>\n