After 21 yrs in coma, woman passes away

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WIVB) - In 1991, Bernadette Jones was severely beaten by her husband. She was in a coma for 21 years and only recently passed away. Through it all, her family never left her side.

Despite never hearing Jones speak again, her family cared for her every need, giving her their unconditional love and devotion.

Her stepfather, Robert Anderson, Jr., said, "I believe she could hear me her entire life in a coma."

Her family built a room for her and through one eye she could open, Jones would communicate to her three children and her mother and stepfather. Her son, Patrick Guiteau, was 4-years-old when domestic violence took a brutal toll on his mother. But he said his mother was still there for him.

"I had my mother. I might not have had her words or her physical embrace, but I've always had my mother, and that's what keeps me every single day as a strong man," Guiteau said.

Jones' daughter, Erin Stewart, said, "She knew that we were there surrounding her. You know, we would come up and give her a hug and kisses and talk to her, you know, let her know who we are and what we're going through, and she would open her eyes in response to the things that we say."

Jones outlived her mother, Marie, who passed away a year and a half ago and had made sure her daughter received the best of care.

Jones' brother, Robert Anderson, III, said, "[We] feel blessed that the Lord gave us an opportunity to keep her here at home with a wonderful quality of care. My father did everything he could, my mother did everything they could to ensure that she had the very best."

There are no regrets from this family - only a sense of humility and gratitude that they were able care for Jones all these years.

"Thanks to God to give you the knowledge and the strength and the courage to do it," Anderson, Jr. said.

Jones had three children, and to make room for their mother, they all lived together in one room. Jones' abusive husband served a stiff prison sentence and was then deported to Haiti, because he was in this country illegally.