A family is grappling with the devastating loss of their 10-year-old daughter, who died of COVID-19 just five days after first exhibiting symptoms.
Teresa Sperry was a fifth-grader at Hillpoint Elementary School in Suffolk, Virginia. Although the girl was too young to be vaccinated, her school had a mask policy in place, and both of her parents, Nicole and Jeff Sperry, as well as two older brothers, had been vaccinated.
The child developed a headache on Wednesday, September 22nd, followed by a fever the next day. On Friday, September 24th, the family made an appointment for a COVID-19 test. However, by Sunday evening, Teresa had developed a nagging cough, which caused her to throw up. Nicole rushed her daughter to the ER, who tested her for strep throat and COVID-19. The strep test was negative, but the Covid results were still pending when she was discharged. A chest X-ray also showed no signs of pneumonia. Nicole says that emergency room staff did appear worried about her daughter’s condition.
They took Teresa home and continued quarantining. However, within 24 hours, she was rushed to Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters after she stopped breathing. She passed away on Monday. Now, the family is desperate for answers.
Nicole believes her daughter would still be alive had parents stopped sending their sick children to school and Teresa not been tasked with walking those children to the nurse’s office. As part of her classroom job, the little girl escorted her sick classmates to the school medical personnel.
“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 stated.
Anthonette Ward, a spokeswoman for Suffolk Public Schools, stated that school rules require adults to accompany students exhibiting probable Covid symptoms. She confirmed that the school board is now looking into why the teacher had another student tending to sick children.
