A Virginia family is reporting the death of their 10-year-old daughter. The latter died of coronavirus after she was potentially exposed to the virus while fulfilling her duties in school as a class nurse.
The girl, Teresa Sperry, had been assigned by her teacher to be escorting her sick classmates to the school nurse at Hillpoint Elementary School. Sperry subsequently came down with a headache and nagging cough herself, according to a CNN report.
The girl’s father, Jeff Sperry, on Tuesday released a statement regarding his daughter’s death:
“One of the things she told us before she got sick, was that her job was to be the ‘class nurse’ to take the sick kids from the class to the nurse’s office. And you have to understand my daughter, this is who she is, helping people is my daughter, it’s not something that she wouldn’t have wanted to do.”
However, Teresa’s parents believe their daughter’s caring nature ultimately led to death. According to her parents, Teresa began feeling ill on September 22 and developed a fever the next day. On September 26, Teresa’s condition became worse with a severe cough, and she was brought to the emergency room by her mom.
CNN reported that she tested for strep throat and COVID-19 and was sent home to wait for results. Unfortunately, Teresa stopped breathing within a day and was rushed to a nearby hospital before being transferred to Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, where she was pronounced dead.
Teresa’s family learned that she had tested positive for the virus after her death.
“We did everything we could have done and now we’ve lost a part of our hearts,” her mom wrote on Facebook. “Covid is real and it doesn’t care who it takes.”
The Schools spokeswoman, in a statement, said the school officials, in combination with health officials, are working to contact trace in Teresa’s classroom. The Virginian Pilot reported. Regarding the parents’ claim that their daughter was forced to be a “class nurse,” the school officials said that would have violated the school’s protocol, and the district is investigating the matter.
