Beloved teacher wore oxygen mask for virtual lessons before losing battle with Covid-19

The Belone family and many of the students the teacher served are from the Navajo Nation in New Mexico.

She wanted every student to feel special

Philamena Belone gave her heart to her students and she did all she could to meet them at their level, her brother said.

“The more difficult students were given to my sister,” Belone said with a laugh. “She taught the kids that everyone just gave up except her. She never gave up on anyone.”

Belone was a teacher at Wingate Elementary School in Fort Wingate, New Mexico, about two hours west of Albuquerque. His school confirmed his death in a statement to CNN.

“Her smile beamed throughout her classroom and her laughter could be heard in the hallways,” principal Eric North said. “She always had a kind word for others who crossed her path, whether in the cafeteria, on the buses or on the playground. Her energy and sense of humor were infectious.

During the pandemic, Philamena Belone gave virtual lessons, her brother said. However, many of his Navajo students did not have access to reliable internet, he said.

As a result, Belone said her sister would drive two hours each way each week and leave classroom materials at school for her students.

She personalized the materials for each one, he says. She created hard copies for some students, while others had laptops but no internet, so she made USB sticks with the documents. Other students could only get online from their parents’ phones at night, so she worked nights to meet their needs.

“She provided crafts, personal little notes and keepsakes specific to each child,” Belone said. “She went above and beyond to teach her kids either over the phone or the Internet when he was available, and creating hard copies of all of her classes for the week.

Belone estimates that her sister worked 70 hours a week. She did it because she loved the students and wanted each of them to feel special, her brother said.

“A lot of the kids she worked with didn’t have the best education so she would always take it to another level to personally engage with them and be a big sister or aunt to them,” he said. .

“My sister also went through difficult circumstances in her life, so she had a special connection with children with behavioral problems,” Belone said. “She would love to connect with the kids and make them happy. It was her reward.”

She went from health to fighting for her life

Philamena Belone started to feel unwell on November 12, her brother said. Symptoms were minimal at first, but a persistent cough took her to the emergency room. Doctors diagnosed him with Covid-19 and pneumonia.

Doctors gave her oxygen and she stayed there for three days, but her desire to return to teaching was strong, her brother said.

She returned home with an oxygen cylinder and mask, urging her to continue teaching until the end of the school term, her brother said. Her youngest son lived with his mother but left home while his mother was in quarantine.

Within two weeks, she had worsened and was returned to the Albuquerque Hospital.

Philamena Belone was a runner and someone who loved to exercise. Her brother found it unbelievable that she should be placed on a ventilator on December 6, he said.

The family also understood what the ventilator meant – Belone lost her aunt and uncle to the virus after both were on ventilators, he said.

They thought Philamena Belone would be fine. “Previously, she was a good, healthy and vibrant soul who we didn’t expect her to be in this situation,” Belone said.

She continued to fight and reassure her family that she would be fine, he said. Philamena Belone never wanted anyone to “fuss” about her and was a very private person, he says.

“We didn’t know it was such a dire situation as after his physical admission for the second time,” Belone said. “I felt like she was still going to be fine and the symptoms weren’t that bad. She hid all this very well from us.

The family said doctors found blood clots in her lungs and discovered she had a collapsed lung. She also had kidney failure and had to undergo dialysis.

“I saw her at the worst, but I understood that she was fighting against her heart and that she was ready to rest,” he said. In the end, her family made the heartbreaking decision to remove her from the ventilator.

“After I made the decision… I was literally numb,” Belone said. “I had no feeling in my body. I didn’t know if I was dreaming or I didn’t know what was real.”

She had a ‘big, contagious, vibrant smile’

When not in class, Philamena Belone enjoyed horseback riding, hunting, crafts and travel. She also loved dancing, spending time teaching her students a few moves, her brother said.

But above all, “she loved children,” her brother said.

Philamena Belone was a devoted and loving mother of three children.

“Her children are absolutely devastated by the loss of their precious sweet mother,” Belone said.

Mekaile Belone, 27, Quionna, 22, and Dion Dotson, 19, no longer have the love and support of their mothers. She also left behind a 4 year old granddaughter, Mila.

But what Belone will miss most about her sister is her smile with her “beautiful dimple on her right cheek”.

“Everyone is going to miss her big, contagious and vibrant smile. Everyone will miss his laugh, ”he said. “What I will miss the most about her is her willingness to make people happy at all costs.”

Belone said he knew he was not alone in the loss he and his family had felt from the pandemic.

“Philamena’s story is not unique,” ​​Belone said. “We should focus on all the stories, all the hundreds of thousands of people, all the millions of people in our country that have been affected by this.”

Rather, Belone hopes people can learn from her sister’s life of service and giving.

“She would have wanted everyone to love each other and not judge each other, to see each other’s best and do whatever they can to make the world a better place,” he said. “It was his legacy.”