Karen Nascembeni shares COVID-19 story
Published August 19, 2020
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIED — Local resident Karen Nascembeni attributed winning her battle over the COVID-19 virus to her supportive family and friends all over the world.
Nascembeni and her sister, Sandra Nascembeni McArthur, recently shared their story during a Zoom teleconference presentation hosted by the Greater Beverly Area Chamber of Commerce. Over 450 people tuned into the “Grace Under Fire: Two Sisters fight COVID-19” presentation to hear Nascembeni’s story, which has touched the lives of people from all over the world.
The North Shore Music Theatre general manager and her late husband, Historical Commission member Steven Richard, were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Tuesday, March 17.
“I was already really sick before I got COVID,” said Nascembeni, who had a form of the coronavirus that caused her to hallucinate. “I was diagnosed with a sinus infection, which had turned into a secondary virus. Over that weekend before Saint Patrick’s Day, we really got sick. I think both of us were oxygen deprived and people were begging us to go to the hospital. He got really bad on Tuesday and I said I was going to call an ambulance, and he said, ‘No, drive me.’ I was delirious driving him to Winchester Hospital.”
After arriving at the hospital, Nascembeni said Richard was immediately taken inside while she had to wait four hours in her car before being admitted.
“I walked into the hospital and the blinds were closed in Steven’s room,” said Nascembeni. “They brought me in and said, ‘Your husband is very, very sick.’”
After Richard and Nascembeni were both admitted to Winchester Hospital, McArthur decided to go public on Facebook about their condition in order to stop misinformation that had been circulating online.
“We all knew that we had to control the narrative to make sure the right information got out there,” said McArthur.
“This poor girl, can you imagine managing my posse?” Nascembeni joked. “She did an incredible job.”
McArthur said Richard’s condition worsened after he was admitted to Winchester Hospital. He was MedFlighted to Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, and passed away from COVID-19 on March 24. He was only 58. Earl Richard, Steven’s father and a World War II veteran, passed away from the virus five days after losing his son. He was 99.
Nascembeni was moved into Winchester Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit after Richard was transported to Lahey Burlington. She was MedFlighted to Lahey the day after her husband passed away.
“He gave up a bed for me so I could go to the next level of care,” said Nascembeni.
As Nascembeni’s condition worsened, McArthur said her sister was intubated, sedated, and was in a medically induced coma for many of her 35 days at Lahey. After doctors determined Nascembeni was suffering from a potential fatal heart issue over Easter weekend, McArthur said a doctor called her and asked to give her sister a blood transfusion. She said Nascembeni started showing signs of improvement and in the following days, was weaned off the sedation and woke up on Monday, April 20.
“That was a gift from Steven,” said McArthur. “April 20 is Steven’s birthday. And I truly believe he sent her back to us that day.”
McArthur spoke with Nascembeni for the first time in over a month on April 25. She told her sister that she lost her husband, father-in-law and her friend, Don Kelley, to COVID-19.
Nascembeni already knew she lost her beloved husband to the virus.
“I knew that Steven was always there by my side with a little glow around him protecting me,” said Nascembeni. “He was always in the corner staring at me peacefully with his beautiful smile.”
After McArthur went to Winchester Hospital in order to retrieve the couple’s belongings, Nascembeni said a physician assistant told her sister that she took Richard out of the car when he was admitted.
“She broke up in tears and said, ‘I will never forget this,’” Nascembeni recalled. ‘He got out of the car, looked at his wife, blew her a kiss and said I love you.’”
After McArthur told Nascembeni the story, she remembered it instantly.
“I was like a school girl,” she said. “He turned around so lovingly and I said ‘I love you, too.’ That was the last time I saw him.”
With Nascembeni’s condition improving, McArthur said she was transported to Spaulding Rehab. She and her daughter, Alexandra, drove to Burlington in order to see Nascembeni get transported to the rehab facility.
“That was a great day,” said McArthur. “I was able to see Karen for two minutes and 53 seconds. She was beautiful. I told her as she was getting put in the ambulance to do the work and that we loved her. She gave me the thumbs up and the peace sign.”
Nascembeni was at Spaulding Rehab for three weeks.
“I would say to the PT and OT people you are the people I fear the most, but you are the people I need the most,” said Nascembeni. “They work you so hard. I never said no to them. The care at Spaulding was amazing.”
Nascembeni was hospitalized for 65 days between the three medical facilities. She told the Villager that she is “incredibly lucky.”
“To my knowledge, I don’t have any permanent damage,” said Nascembeni. “People I know have been left with scarred lungs as well as nerve damage and long-term neuropathy from being proned in the ICU.”
After Nascembeni was taken to McArthur’s home in Haverhill in order to continue her recovery, her friend Nate Bertone organized a welcome home parade. McArthur said 120 cars and over 200 people participated in the parade.
“The cars were lined up like a sold out matinee at North Shore Music Theatre,” said Nascembeni. “It was spectacular. I stood for the whole thing. People drove from all over New England to come to it. I can’t thank them enough.”
McArthur said the North Shore community “was a source of inspiration” while Nascembeni was being treated. She said Bertone launched a postcard campaign in order to have people wish Nascembeni well.
Bertone also launched the Steven T. Richard Memorial Photography Scholarship in his friend’s memory. He raised funds for the scholarship fund by selling T-shirts and glasses called “Karen’s Party People” that featured a drawing of Nascembeni along with some of her favorite phrases. Actress Elizabeth Banks posed in one of the T-shirts on her Instagram page.
“One of the big recipients of that scholarship is Montserrat College of Art,” said Nascembeni. “I will be talking to them about what that is going to look like.”
Nascembeni also recalled that Bertone and his father recently finished renovating her home’s sunroom, which was a project Richard had started.
“He is like a son to me and Steven,” Nascembeni told the Villager.
McArthur said the North Shore Music Theatre staff was incredibly supportive. She said the costume department started making masks for people and NSMT owner, Bill Hanney, contacted her “every single day” in order to check-in on Nascembeni.
“This North Shore Music Theatre team was so great,” said McArthur.
Nascembeni told the Villager that her co-worker and dear friend, Kevin Hill, launched a GoFundMe campaign in order to help offset the costs of her medical expenses.
“I am so grateful for that,” she said.
The Richard and Nascembeni families recently hosted a private burial for Steven and Earl in town. Nascembeni said McArthur, Steven’s brother Glenn and Centre Congregational Church Rev. Nancy Rottman each gave beautiful eulogies in honor of two men who were beloved in Lynnfield. She is planning on hosting a memorial service at NSMT for both of them in the spring.
“Steven was such a rudder for me,” said Nascembeni. “You can’t work the hours I worked without somebody picking up the pieces at home. He drove me from theater to theater so I could sleep in the car. We had a very rich, beautiful life together. My life is never going to be the same, but I had a great love. I know how lucky I was.”
McArthur agreed.
“Steven was absolutely a beautiful soul,” said McArthur. “He was a kind man and a humble man. He was a healthy man at 58-years-old.”
Nascembeni said a physician recently told her that people can get COVID-19 a second time.
“I have to be super careful,” said Nascembeni. “Every doctor has said I am a walking miracle. The fact I survived this is truly a miracle, and I truly believe it was because hundreds of thousands of people from around the world were praying for me.”
McArthur said Nascembeni “is fierce and is a warrior.” She thanked Lahey Burlington and Winchester Hospital for making sure her sister received great care.
“I don’t know how she survived it,” said McArthur. “In addition to the incredible teams at Winchester and Lahey, I believe it was the power of many who brought her here.”
Nascembeni encouraged people to wear face masks, practice social distancing, wash their hands and avoid large crowds.
“You do not want to have your niece make you a mask for your husband’s funeral with his initials on it,” said Nascembeni while holding up the mask. “I love this and I treasure this, and I hope you never have to have one made.”
If residents would like to donate to the Steven T. Richard Memorial Scholarship, they should send a check to Nate Bertone, 14 Crescent Dr., Salem 01970.