Pregnant NY teacher dies after collapsing in her classroom weeks before baby was due
A pregnant upstate New York teacher who was just weeks away from having her first child has died after collapsing in her classroom.
Courtney Fannon, 29, a special-ed teacher at Kendal Central School in the rural community some 30 miles northwest of Rochester, was found unresponsive in her classroom on Friday, USA Today reported.
She collapsed shortly after sending her husband, Kurtis, a text, the outlet said, without detailing what it was about.
Fannon was rushed to a hospital, where doctors attempted to save her and her unborn daughter, whom they had already named Hadley Jaye.
The cause of death was unavailable.
“The world lost 2 beautiful souls, Courtney Fannon and Hadley Jaye Fannon, long before any of us were ready to live in a world without them,” her husband’s friend Matt Smith wrote in a GoFundMe page for the family.
“They were called to eternal rest the night of March 8th, after a very tragic and unexpected turn of events,” he wrote in the account, which has raised almost $53,000 as of Thursday morning.
Fannon had taught special education in the district since 2018.
“Courtney was a special education teacher who served her students with passion and joy each day,” schools Superintendent Nicholas Picardo said in a message, USA Today reported.
“When she wasn’t in her classroom sharing her love and gift for teaching with her students, she could be found walking our halls with a smile and a friendly hello,” he added.
In his lengthy post on GoFundMe, Smith wrote that Kurtis is living the “worst nightmare of having to return to a home, filled with baby toys, bottles, furniture and a finished nursery, that will no longer be filled with the cooing sounds and shuffling of a newborn.”
Fannon, who tied the knot with Kurtis in August 2022 after 10 years together, was due to give birth “in just 4 short weeks,” he wrote.
“For those who did not have the wonderful opportunity to meet or get to know Courtney, there is an endless amount of positive and good things that can only be said about her,” Smith continued.
“She was loving, genuine and organized in a way that always placed her students ahead of herself, ultimately changing the lives of her students and caregivers, always for the positive,” he wrote.
Smith also addressed the unborn girl in his tribute.
“Hadley, although we never had the opportunity to meet you, see you grow up, and make great things out of yourself, I know that you will live on in all that your family does to ensure that the few breaths that you were able to take were not in vain and will not be forgotten,” he wrote.
“One so little, should not have the responsibility to look over their father, but with your mom’s guidance, I know that you will be prepared to send messages and signals that you are there watching, just as your mom would be prepared for everything,” Smith wrote.
“Hadley, to the sweet baby girl who never had the chance to live in this world. I find comfort in knowing that you did not go alone and that you will forever be looked after by your loving and caring mother,” he added.
The funeral Mass for Courtney and Hadley is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Vincent DePaul Church in Churchville.
