33-year-old nurse from Wellington dies after being exposed to COVID-19

Update: Autopsy shows Danielle DiCenso died from a kidney infection, not COVID-19.

Danielle DiCenso was a mother, a sister, a friend, a dog lover, and a traveling nurse working at Palmetto General Hospital.

Her husband, David, says that she loved her job and loved to help people, but had begun experiencing some anxiety in March about going to work.

"She was scared to go to work," DiCenso remembers.

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He says Danielle came home with horror stories about treading patients with COVID-19, but most horrific of all, she said she was not given proper personal protective equipment, like a face mask to wear at work.

"She went to work one day and they didn’t have a mask for her," he said.

David says Danielle began experiencing coronavirus symptoms in late March and she suspected she had it, but her test came back inconclusive and she thought she could fight it off at home.

"She was like “no I don’t want to waste a ventilator on me, I'm healthy, I don’t need it.”'" DiCenso recalls. "She was always caring about other people before her. I was like 'alright baby you’re the professional so I’ll take your advice on that.'"

He says the virus attacked Danielle in waves, but last Wednesday she thought she was doing better when she went to sleep on the couch.

"She was like it’s ok I'm going to be ok, we’re good," he recalls. Danielle had no pre-existing conditions and seemed to be improving, so David says he went to sleep in their bed to give her some space.

But that night, the unthinkable happened Danielle passed away in her sleep.

" It looked like the oxygen was just taken out of her," he told CBS12 News.

David is still waiting on official results from the coroner, but he says he has no doubt that she was exposed to COVID-19 at work.

"It’s like sending military troupes to war without any ammunition or Kevlar on. How do you expect to win something like that if you’re jeopardizing the people who are supposed to be saving the lives of people who are hurt?"

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CBS12 News reached out to Palmetto General for comment.

Shelly Weiss Friedberg, a spokesperson from the hospital said:

“Nurses are provided appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) in compliance with Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines. We are very focused on minimizing staff exposure in our hospital. All employees at our hospital are temperature checked upon arrival, wear a mask during patient care and are required to notify employee health if they become symptomatic. They are not permitted to work in the hospital caring for patients if exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19.”

The family has created a GoFundMe to cover funeral expenses and her son's college fund.