10-year-old girl died from COVID after teacher turned her ‘class nurse’: parents

A 10-year-old girl in Virginia died of complications from COVID-19 after being potentially exposed to the virus while performing school duties as a “classroom nurse,” her family said.

Teresa Sperry, a fifth grade student at Hillpoint Elementary School, had been assigned by her teacher to escort her sick classmates to the school nurse before she suffered from ailments herself headache and a nagging cough, CNN reported.

“One of the things she told us before she got sick was that her job was to be the class nurse to take sick children from class to the nurses office,” her said. father, Jeff Sperry, at the point of sale.

“And you have to understand my daughter, that’s who she is, helping people is my daughter, that’s not something she wouldn’t have wanted to do.”

But his parents believe it was his caring nature that ultimately led to his death.

She started feeling sick on September 22 and developed a fever the next day, her family said.

But just four days later, on September 26, she started coughing so badly that her mother took her to the emergency room, the newspaper reported.

She was tested for strep throat and COVID-19, but was sent home to await the results, CNN reported.

“Her lungs were perfect, beautiful. They didn’t seem worried, ”her mother, Nicole Sperry, told the outlet.

But within one day, she stopped breathing and was taken to a local hospital before being transferred to the King’s Daughters’ Children’s Hospital, where she died.

After her death, her family were told she had tested positive for the virus.

“We did everything we could have done and now we have lost part of our heart,” her mother wrote on Facebook. “Covid is real and it doesn’t matter who it takes. “

Anthonette Ward, a spokesperson for Suffolk Public Schools, said they were working with health officials to contact Trace in Teresa’s classroom, the Virginian-Pilot reported.

Responding to parents’ claims that Teresa was forced to be “the class nurse,” Ward said this would have been a violation of school protocol and the district is investigating.

“Hillpoint Elementary School protocol is for the teacher or any adult to contact the main office with a ‘C’ code. When this happens, one of the administrators or the school nurse will come to the classroom to pick up the student, ”she said in an email. “We are still investigating to make sure this process was followed faithfully.”