Connecticut Teacher Cares for Student’s Newborn Brother as Family Recovers from Coronavirus

A Connecticut teacher has gone above and beyond her duties in the classroom by caring for the newborn brother of one of her students while his family is recovering from the coronavirus.

It all began when Luciana Lira received a phone call in early April from Zully, the mother of one of her elementary school students.

Zully was eight months pregnant, in labor, and tested positive for the coronavirus. She called Lira to ask if she could get in touch with the father, whose English skills are limited, and meet him at Stamford Hospital because he needed help speaking with the health care professionals, NBC 4 New York reported.

When she arrived, the family asked Lira if she could take care of the baby until they find out if the child’s father and his seven-year-old brother tested positive for the coronavirus.

Baby Neysel was born five weeks premature by emergency c-section, and Zully was placed on a ventilator, according to Lira. Miraculously, the baby tested negative for the coronavirus.

Joy Colon, Lira’s friend, said nurses at the hospital asked whether Lira and Zully were related because she was listed as the primary contact. Lira simply responded, “I’m just a teacher.”

“This should not happen. This father, who adores his son, who adores his son so much, can’t even go near his son. I just felt extremely depressed and sad. It’s a stranger who’s taking the baby home,” Lira told the Hartford Courant.

But Lira is more than a teacher. She also keeps up with the online curriculum for her students as a teacher of English as a Second Language at Hart Magnet Elementary School in Stamford while caring for her own family, including one son and her husband.

Lira also started a GoFundMe page to raise money to offset healthcare and living expenses for Zully’s family. As of Wednesday afternoon, the page raised more than $24,000 out of its $35,000 goal. Zully’s husband and son both tested positive for coronavirus and were recovering at home.

After spending three weeks in the hospital, Zully was finally allowed to return home in late April, even though she still tested positive for the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Lira is hoping the family can be reunited by Mother’s Day.