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91-Year-Old Revere Woman Returns Home After Beating Coronavirus

REVERE (CBS) – A 91-year-old Revere woman is back home at the Jack Satter House after battling Covid-19. Dorothy Presto described it as a "nightmare" and said she is alive because of prayer and the great work by doctors and nurses.

"Believe me, many nights, many nights I used to pray to my God," Presto said. "I said, 'God don't take me now. Don't take me now because I'm not ready to go, please.'"

After weeks of suffering, those final test results were a precious gift.

"She said, 'You've made it! Your test came out!' I just fell in my hands and I just bawled like a baby," Presto said.

Dorothy Presto
Dorothy Presto is released from Hebrew Rehabilitation Center after recovering from COVID-19 (WBZ-TV)

Eleven of Presto's neighbors at the Jack Satter House have died from the coronavirus. When she got symptoms in early March, she feared the worst.

"That's when I called Gary, my son, and I said, 'Gary I'm not going to make it, something's happening to me,'" Presto said.

She was taken by ambulance to Mass General Hospital where she tested positive for the coronavirus.

She spent two weeks at MGH and then more time in the Recuperative Services Unit at the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center in Roslindale before being released.

"Every day I see that sunshine and I'm home. In fact when the girl had to take me home, and I'll tell you, I got excited when I saw Revere Beach," Presto said laughing.

Dorothy Presto
Dorothy Presto (WBZ-TV)

Presto wasn't sure she would ever return to the Jack Satter House.

"The minute she took me in my apartment, it was like you know I saw life again, because I didn't think I would make it," Presto said.

She said she is getting stronger every day and hopes to be able to dance again soon. "We'll all be together again," Presto said.

Residents of the Jack Satter House have been quarantined since the middle of March.

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