KENMORE, N.Y. – Gloria Peay is singing her way into our hearts. Video of the food service ambassador at Kenmore Mercy Hospital is getting all the attention it deserves.
Diana Donnarumma's medical journey has taken her across the country, and she's finally home.
"I just spent the last nine months in Washington, D.C. at Georgetown MedStar Hospital. And, I received a multi-organ transplant which included my small and large intestine, and they removed 98-percent of my stomach," says Donnarumma.
The Clarence native began her stay at Kenmore Mercy three days ago as her recovery continues, and she got quite the welcome from Peay.
Peay has been singing for 34 years as a food service ambassador at the hospital, and Donnarumma knew she had to capture the moment.
"She just came in, you could feel her joy just coming out of every pore in her body and she just filled the room with joy and being in a hospital it's very easy to feel under the mentally because you're feeling so under the weather physically, but it's people like her who really make a difference in the hospital atmosphere," says Donnarumma.
Donnarumma wants to put a spotlight on everyone at the hospital who makes it a comfortable experience for patients, and she's started paying-it-forward in her own way. She converts colorful backpacks for people who rely on a having their medication or nutrition delivered through tubes.
Donnarumma says being sick doesn't mean you need to be unfashionable, and it's changed her perspective.
"There's a lot of people that are going to enter into your life, but you're only going to remember how they made you feel that you might not remember what they said, what happened, but you'll always remember in your heart how that one person made you feel, and I know that the way she made me feel is going to stay with me forever," says Donnarumma.
Peay isn't camera shy, we just got to the hospital after she went home for the night. She told Donnarumma she could record her if she got her on Ellen and she won't sing to her again until she's discharged.