(HorizonPost.com) – A Rochester, New York-area special education teacher collapsed in her classroom and later died just weeks before she was due to give birth to her first child, USA Today reported.
Kendall Central School special-ed teacher, 29-year-old Courtney Fannon, collapsed on March 8 not long after sending her husband a text message. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she and her unborn daughter Hadley Jaye were later pronounced dead.
Kendall Central School Superintendent Nicholas Picardo informed the parents of Courtney’s death. Picardo said of the special education teacher that she “served her students with passion and joy each day.”
Classes at Kendall Central School were canceled on Monday, March 11, and the district provided counselors for staff and students, Picardo said.
Picardo later thanked the community for its “outpouring of support” for Courtney’s friends and family, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported.
A GoFundMe page was set up for the family by Matthew Smith, a friend of Courtney’s husband Kurtis. It had raised over $90,000 by Sunday.
Smith said his friend Kurtis had to endure the “nightmare” of returning home from the hospital to a house filled with baby furniture, toys, and bottles.
Courtney and Kurtis were a couple for ten years before marrying in August 2022. They were expecting the birth of Hadley Jaye in less than a month.
Smith described Courtney as loving and genuine and said she always put her students first.
Courtney was also survived by her parents Betty and Dave Nojeim, and her sister Emily.
In a Facebook post, Dave Nojeim described his daughter as “an amazing person” who “made an indelible connection and forever changed our lives.”
Courtney and Hadley Jaye were laid to rest over the weekend following a funeral mass at St. Vincent DePaul Church in Churchville, New York.
The family asked that instead of flowers, well-wishers should donate to Homesteads for Hope, an Ogden community farm for people with disabilities.
Copyright 2024, HorizonPost.com
