Photo: Nicole Sperry / Facebook
She was given the role of 'class nurse.'
By Nia Tipton — Written on Oct 05, 2021
A 10-year-old girl in Virginia has passed away from COVID-19 and now her grieving parents are criticizing her school for potentially exposing her to the virus.
Teresa Sperry died only five days after contracting COVID, with her first symptom being a headache. It wasn’t until two days after her death that her family learned she’d tested positive for the virus.
Teresa Sperry's parents say her teacher made her act as a 'nurse' to sick kids.
Teresa’s parents, Nicole and Jeff, said they followed all safety precautions when it came to protecting themselves and their daughter from COVID. However, given that Teresa had been given the role of 'nurse' in her classroom, their efforts may have been futile.
It was Teresa's job to walk sick children to the school nurse's office, which may have put her in danger.
“Our daughter was perfectly healthy. And would have continued to be here if people would have stopped sending their sick kids to school,” Nicole Sperry wrote on her personal Facebook page.
The Suffolk Public School board is now responding to the reports that Teresa was assigned to escort sick children to the nurse. Jeff Sperry even shared that his daughter was proud of her new role as the ‘class nurse.’
“She was in the car and was telling me her job was to take care of the sick kids and take them to the nurse,” Jeff Sperry shared.
The superintendent of Suffolk Public Schools has made claims that negate the reports made from Teresa’s parents.
“It is true that the student had the job of nurse, but that was for band-aids or bags of ice for kids who fell on the playground etcetera,” said Dr. John B. Gordon III.
“The procedure that is used at the schools is anytime there is a sick student we call a Code C and we’ve verified with the teacher and the school nurse and the administration that at no time was the student walking someone to a clinic who was feeling ill.”
Both Nicole and Jeff are vaccinated, along with Teresa’s older brothers. Nicole even said that Teresa was ready to get her vaccine.
“She was like, 'Yeah I can get my shot.' Like she wanted to get her shot," Nicole said.
Though, after Teresa’s positive diagnosis, her father had also tested positive for COVID as the entire family was required to quarantine until October 4.
Children are at risk of contracting COVID-19.
Reports have shown that since the end of September, nearly 5.9 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Although the rate of mortality among young children is low, there are still a percentage who are passing away from the virus.
In another Facebook post, Nicole Sperry, who is a school teacher in Hampton Roads, wrote that she wants people to take COVID seriously and believe in the virus.
“‘Want to know what you can do to honor my lovely girl? Wear a damn mask! Get vaccinated! Social distance! And most importantly stop complaining and keep your sick kids at home. Because in the end you will still get to hug yours.'”
You can donate to Teresa Sperry's family.
There has been a PayPal account set up for the Sperry family to help cover all expenses as well as a Meal Train page for anyone who wants to donate a meal, or money for food.
It’s a tragic story, and only reinforces the need to keep protecting ourselves and people around us from the virus.
The pandemic is nowhere near over and it’s important that we keep up with all of the safety guidelines to help lower the mortality rate for everyone.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Follow her on Instagram.