Las Vegas woman did not let disease define her life
Dana Marshall-Bernstein’s Las Vegas family is mourning the young woman they’ll remember as feisty, funny, witty and brilliant.
After battling a severe case of Crohn’s disease for most of her life, Marshall-Bernstein died Sunday in Las Vegas. She was 28.
“She knew her body, she knew the disease, but was determined not to let it define who she was,” said Marshall-Bernstein’s mother, Cari Marshall. “She was full of spunk. She was vivacious and so full of life. And she got to enjoy a lot of her life in spite of this disease.”
Marshall-Bernstein is the daughter of local personal injury attorney Ed Bernstein. Her grandfather is former Nevada Gaming Commissioner Art Marshall.
Marshall-Bernstein attended The Meadows School and UNLV. She underwent many surgeries and medical procedures related to her Crohn’s disease as a child, but she was always independent, and a “spiritual warrior,” Cari Marshall said.
Marshall-Bernstein had been receiving care at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, and two years ago she received a small bowel transplant. Her body later began to reject the transplant, so it was removed this year. Complications from that and ensuing infections ultimately claimed her life, Ed Bernstein said.
A 2015 documentary, “Semicolon; the adventures of ostomy girl,” focused on living with Crohn’s and Marshall-Bernstein’s decision to have the intestinal transplant.
She was active in the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation’s Southwest Chapter, Bernstein said.
“Although Dana had to deal with this adversity in her life, which was not easy, it was very challenging, she did it with grace and humor and an amazing ability to steward her way through it all,” Cari Marshall said. “Dana was such a bright light in this world.”
A memorial service is planned for 11 a.m. Thursday at Congregation Ner Tamid in Henderson. Marshall-Bernstein’s family asks that memorial donations be sent to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, Southwest Chapter, 615 S. Seventh St., Las Vegas, NV 89101.
Contact Jamie Munks at jmunks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Follow @JamieMunksRJ on Twitter.
