Counting 'em Down: For better or for worse, this is the Headline Surfer countdown of 2021's Top 100 biggest news stories of Central Florida along the tourism-driven stretch of Interstate 4 (Orlando Attractions and east to I-95 & the World's Most Famous Beach in Daytona). Each recap segment is posted with its own headline, culminating with the unveiling of No. 1. Each segment includes a 2022 update.
Photos for Headline Surfer / ABOVE: Marc Bernier of The Marc Bernie Show on WNDB Radio, died of COVID-19, on Aug. 38, 2021 at a local hospital. Bernier was 65. BELOW: Sheriff Mike Chitwood, who appeared in a weekly on-air promotional segment with Bernier, said he felt 'numb' in confirming Bernier's passing.
By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. -- Longtime WNDB radio talk show host Marc Bernier, an outspoken anti-vaxxer, succumbed to COVID-19 back in August.
The conservative radio host who criticized coronavirus vaccination efforts – and called himself “Mr. Anti-Vax” – before contracting Covid-19 himself, died on Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021, at age 65.
When Bernier was hospitalized with Covid-19, three weeks ago, WNDB operations manager Mark McKinney, said: “If you’ve listened to his show, you’ve heard him talk about how anti-vaccine he is on the air.”
Bernier's employer announced his death on Facebook and Twitter, following a three-week hospitalization for treatment of the coronavirus.
"It’s with great sadness that WNDB and Southern Stone Communications announce the passing of Marc Bernier," the radio station stated in a written posting on Facebook shortly after 8:30 p.m. Saturday without mentioning the coronavirus specifically or that Bernier, 65, of Ormond Beach, had been hospitalized for the deadly virus since Aug. 10.
"Marc informed and entertained listeners on WNDB for over 30 years while enjoying a successful 46-year career as a broadcast journalist," WNDB/Stone Communications added. "He will be missed by many friends, family members, and colleagues. We kindly ask that privacy is given to Marc’s family during this time of grief."
Marc Bernier was the third conservative radio host to die from COVID-19 after publicly questioning the need for vaccines.
“I’m numb,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood, who appeared weekly on-air in a promotional 60-minute segment with Bernier, told the Daytona Beach News-Journal in confirming Bernier's passing. “To me, this is a death in the family.”
Marc Bernier was the third conservative radio host to die from COVID-19 after publicly questioning the need for vaccines.
“I’m numb,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood, who appeared weekly on-air in a promotional 60-minute segment with Bernier, told the Daytona Beach News-Journal in confirming Bernier's passing. “To me, this is a death in the family.”
Bernier, who wasn’t just a vaccine skeptic, even characterizing himself as “Mr. Anti-Vax,” died a week after Phil Valentine, a 62-year-old conservative radio host in Nashville, died of COVID-19. Valentine had expressed skepticism of the COVID-19 vaccine but reportedly changed his mind and urged friends and family members to get vaccinated from his hospital bed. Dick Farrel, a 65-year-old conservative radio host from Florida, died of COVID-19 on Aug. 4.
Farrel, who was also an anchor on Newsmax, frequently criticized vaccines on Facebook but his friends said he changed his stance on the issue after he was hospitalized.
“COVID took one of my best friends!" Amy Leigh Hair wrote on her Facebook page.RIP Dick Farrel. He is the reason I took the shot. He texted me and told me to ‘Get it!’ He told me this virus is no joke and he said, ‘I wish I had gotten it!’ ”
The overwhelming majority of hospitalizations and deaths from Covid-19 in the US are among unvaccinated people. According to Johns Hopkins University, nearly 637,000 people have died of Covid-19 in the US.
Jennifer Hopton-Villalobos, a Volusia County resident, urged people to get fully vaccinated so they don't have to die like Bernier, who had been hospitalized since Aug. 11.
"He was an anti-vaccine promoter," Hopton-Villalobos said, adding, "It’s tragic so many are being misled and their surviving family members have to live with a hole in their life. His death was preventable. There have been numerous losses I haven’t shared."
Obituary:
Marc Frederick Bernier, host of The Marc Bernier Show on WNDB Daytona Beach, Florida, for the past 30 years, died of COVID-19 on August 28, 2021.
Bernier, born in 1956 in Rhode Island, was in radio broadcasting for 46 years.
About the Byline Writer: Henry Frederick is a member of the working press and publisher of Headline Surfer, the award-winning 24/7 internet news outlet launched in 2008, that serves greater Daytona Beach, Sanford & Orlando from Lake Mary, Florida via HeadlineSurfer.com. Frederick has amassed close to 150 award-winning bylines in print & online. He earned his Master of Arts in New Media Journalism from Full Sail University in 2019. He was a breaking news reporter (metro cops & courts beat) for the Daytona Beach News-Journal for nearly a decade. And Before that worked the same beat for The Journal-News/Gannett Suburban Newspapers in Rockland/Westchester counties, NY, dating back to 1989. Having witnessed the execution of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Florida's death chamber and covering other high profile cases, Frederick has appeared on national crime documentary shows on Discovery ID, Reelz, and the Oxygen Network series "Snapped" for his analysis. • Award-Winning Journalism: Florida Press Club recognizes Headline Surfer for nine stories in 2020 statewide competition. • Award-Winning Journalism of Henry Frederick.