JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville woman whose story made national news during the pandemic continues to make a difference for people like her.
Mary Daniel is fighting to care for her husband and now has members of Congress on her side.
Daniel’s husband Steve has Alzheimer’s disease. He was diagnosed when he was only 59 years old.
“It’s crazy that the toughest decision I ever made placing him there has made such a difference for so many people across the United States,” Daniel told News4Jax. “It was such a hard decision. And then to be locked out was so difficult for so many people, but this could change things for a very, very long time.”
Daniel was locked out like all other caregivers when the pandemic struck. She fought to bring attention to the issue and she’s doing it again.
Three members of Congress introduced “The Essential Caregivers Act” recently including Jacksonville Rep. John Rutherford.
“I will tell you, this is a great example, I think, of someone who has a passion and really making it not just at the state local level,” Rutherford said.
Rutherford praises Daniel for getting Gov. Ron DeSantis to allow caregivers back into facilities last September.
Now the bill sponsors and Mary Daniel want to make sure that the isolation Steve Daniel endured doesn’t happen again.
Mary got a job at the facility so she could see her husband, willing to do anything to hold his hand or hug him.
“Being there with our loved ones not only provides a functional role, where we actually help the staff, but then I’m there to rub his back and to give him a hug,” she said. “He still doesn’t know that I was a dishwasher, he doesn’t know about COVID. He has no clue about that. What he knows is my love and my touch, and he is happier with me with him, and I’m happier with me with him knowing that I’m giving him the care that I promised him so many years ago when he was diagnosed.”
The bill would designate two “essential caregivers” who would always have access to their loved ones, even following health and safety protocols.
Mary Daniel and John Rutherford are guests on This Week in Jacksonville this weekend. The show airs Sunday morning at 9 a.m. on Channel 4.