A Stamford, Connecticut, teacher is being heralded a hero after she generously took in the newborn brother of one of her students whose mother sick with the coronavirus. Thirty-two-year-old Luciana Lira teaches at Hart Magnet Elementary School and knew she had to do something when her 7-year-old student Junior's entire family came down with the coronavirus at the same time his mother, Zully, whose last name has not been revealed, was going into labor. So the teacher did what she had to for a family in need.
Lira received a call from Junior's mother on April 4 as she was going into labor.
According to a Facebook post that has since gone viral, friend Joy Colon explained that Lira instructs students who require an English language learner teacher, or ELL teacher.
"Often, the role we play is much more than you can imagine," Colon wrote.
Early in April, Lira would be tested in a way she never had been before when one of her students' mothers reached out to her out of the blue and told the teacher the horrible truth: She tested positive for the coronavirus. The Daily Mail reported that Zully and her family are Guatemalan asylum seekers, so they had no one else in the United States to call except for Lira, and as a result, the teacher was her emergency contact.
"For most of us, we have been sheltering in place and continuing to teach via distance learning," Colon continued on social media. "For Luciana, the role of teacher has been altered forever."
The teacher reached out to Zully's husband, Marvin, who said that he and Junior had been tested and were waiting for their results.
The dad was nervous. With one sick wife and a possible positive diagnosis for him and his stepson, he asked Lira for an incredible favor — would Lira take care of their newborn until the test results for he and Junior came in?
Without hesitating, Lira said yes.
In her Facebook post, Colon remarked that she can't "imagine what Luciana must have been thinking at that moment."
"But then, what do heroes think about before they put themselves in harm's way?" she wrote.
The teacher rushed to the hospital to meet with Marvin, "adhering to the strict 6-foot guidance for social distancing," Colon added. Zully's doctors decided she needed an emergency C-section, and quickly afterward she delivered a little boy she named Neysel — who was thankfully coronavirus free.
Things weren't looking good for Zully.
The coronavirus was taking its toll on the mom, so her doctor's decided to put her on a ventilator. While she fought off the virus at the hospital, Lira was made temporary guardian of Neysel and brought the baby back to her home, where she and husband Alex could care for him.
Sadly, both Marvin and Junior tested positive for the coronavirus less than a week later.
So Neysel would have to stay with Lira a while longer. She continued to play mom for the boy and lead video homeschool classes for her students.
On April 18, Zully thankfully turned a corner.
The mom had improved so much so that she was finally taken off her ventilator. Two days later, she would finally see her son.
Lira put Neysel on a Zoom video call with his mother. It was a heartwarming moment when mother and son could finally be reunited — albeit virtually.
On April 24, there was more good news -- Zully was finally allowed to go home.
The mom was escorted home via ambulance and was finally able to be reunited with Marvin and Junior. Neysel, unfortunately, will have to stay with Lira until all three family members are cleared of the virus.
Lira told the newspaper that she was willing to be Neysel's guardian until his family is healthy again.
It will be a touching moment when Neysel can finally meet his dad and older brother.
Lira's being called a hero by the people who know her best.
On Facebook, Colon was beside herself with admiration for Lira's actions.
"She had only known this family since the beginning of the school year, and it was only because their 7-year-old was her student," Colon wrote on her post that has been shared more than 6,500 times. "They were virtually strangers to one another. And yet, my friend did what truly good people do. She said yes."
Colon wrote that Neysel's pediatrician also praised Lira's actions and told them that the newborn's fate "could surely have been tragic" had he gone home with his parents.
Colon urged people to share her post, in effort to remind them that "essential workers are out there working every day."
"We're all at home, working and groping for an understanding of this new normal that caught all of us off guard," she wrote. "But this unselfish act reminds us that our humanity makes us all essential … to each other."
She poised a poignant question to everyone who read her dear friend's story: "How will each of us respond when we are asked to simply show up and help?"
On Lira's Facebook page, the caring teacher also asked for "prayers" for Neysel's safe return home.
"I can’t wait for them all to test negative so they can welcome their almost 1 month old baby boy home!" she wrote on Sunday. "Thank you for all the thoughts, prayers and support!"
