A registered nurse who came out of retirement to help teach future frontline workers to combat the coronavirus pandemic has died from complications of COVID-19.
70-year-old Iris Meda wanted to do her part to combat the spread of the virus in hard hit Texas. So, she came out of retirement to teach nursing students enrolled at Collin College and high schoolers earning dual-credit beginning in September.
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“She felt like if she could gain momentum by teaching some of those basics, we could do to contain any virus,” her daughter, Selene Meda-Schlamel, told The Washington Post “She wanted to do something that would make a difference.”
It was during one of these classes that Mrs. Meda came in contact with a student showing COVID symptoms, Collin College President H. Neil Matkin said. Though everyone wore masks, the lesson that day prevented Meda from social distancing from her students.
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Two days after coming in contact with the student, Mrs Meda tested positive for COVID-19. She was hospitalized on October 17 and placed on a ventilator as her condition worsened.
Just over a week ago, Meda’s 75-year-old husband and her daughter were allowed to wear PPE to be there as she took her final breath.
