Girl, 10, died of Covid after being made ‘class nurse’, parents claim

The parents of a “perfectly healthy” schoolgirl in the US have claimed their daughter died from Covid after being made her “class nurse”.

A 10-year-old girl in the US has died of Covid complications after she was potentially exposed to the virus while fulfilling her duties in school as the “class nurse,” her family claimed.

Teresa Sperry, a student at Hillpoint Elementary School in Virginia, had been tasked with escorting her sick classmates to the school nurse before she came down with a headache and nagging cough herself, her parents told CNN.

Her parents, Nicole and Jeff Sperry, are vaccinated along with their two older sons. Teresa and their youngest nine-year-old son were not yet vaccinated but were eagerly waiting to become eligible.

Parents Nicole and Jeff Sperry claim their daughter contracted Covid after being made ‘class nurse’ at school. Picture: Supplied

Ten-year-old Teresa died from Covid complications on Sunday. Picture: Supplied

On Sunday, young Teresa “developed a nagging cough” that led to mum Nicole taking her to the hospital where an X-ray and Covid test initially showed no sign of infection.

But within 24 hours, she had stopped breathing and was transferred to the local children’s hospital where she tragically died.

After her death, her family was notified that she had tested positive for the virus.

“One of the things she told us before she got sick, was that her job was to be the ‘class nurse’ to take the sick kids from the class to the nurse’s office,” Jeff told CNN.

“And you have to understand my daughter, this is who she is, helping people is my daughter, it’s not something that she wouldn’t have wanted to do.”

Her parents said Teresa was ‘perfectly healthy’ before her sudden death. Picture: Supplied

Now her parents are scrambling to understand how their “perfectly healthy” child died in just five days, believing her caring nature and role as “class nurse” ultimately led to her death.

“We did everything we could have done and now we’ve lost a part of our hearts,” Nicole wrote on Facebook.

“Covid is real and it doesn’t care who it takes.”

She also said the family were struggling after losing Teresa after her heart “just gave up”.

The school are working with health officials to contact trace in Teresa’s classroom and is conducting an investigation into the parents claims, the New York Post reports.