Teacher takes in newborn as parents recover from coronavirus

A Connecticut teacher is going above and beyond for people she barely knows.

ByGenevieve Shaw Brown via logo
December 13, 2020, 11:14 PM

"GMA" celebrates the heroes who rose to challenges on the front lines, in the classroom, in their communities and beyond amid the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.

Teacher Luciana Lira went above and beyond for one of her students and his family. The mother of one of Lira's 7-year-old students, gave birth to a baby, but could not care for him as the mother, the baby's father and brother all have the novel coronavirus, according to ABC News affiliate WABC. Lira teaches English as a second language at Hart Magnet Elementary School in Stamford, Connecticut.

PHOTO: Baby Neysel stretches in a bassinet at Luciana Lira's home on April 20, 2020 , in Stamford, Conn.
Baby Neysel stretches in a bassinet at Luciana Lira's home on April 20, 2020 , in Stamford, Conn.
John Moore/Getty Images

The baby was born on April 2, five weeks early but in good health.

The mother was reportedly gravely ill and intubated for several weeks. She is now home but recovering.

PHOTO: Stamford Elementary school teacher Luciana Lira, 32, kisses Neysel before showing the newborn for the first time to his immigrant mother Zully, a Guatemalan asylum seeker, and her son Junior, 7, via Zoom on April 20, 2020, in Stamford, Conn.
Stamford Elementary school teacher Luciana Lira, 32, kisses Neysel before showing the newborn for the first time to his immigrant mother Zully, a Guatemalan asylum seeker, and her son Junior, 7, via Zoom on April 20, 2020, in Stamford, Conn.
John Moore/Getty Images

In a Facebook post from April 17, Lira's friend, Joy Colon wrote that the teacher had received a call from the mother while she was in labor. It was the baby's father who asked Lira if she could take the baby in.

"And of course, Luciana did. 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. They were virtually strangers to one another. And yet, my friend did what truly good people do. She said yes," Colon wrote.

PHOTO: COVID-19 patient Zully looks at a photo of her newborn baby Neysel while in a Stamford Hospital ICU on April 24, 2020, in Stamford, Conn.
COVID-19 patient Zully looks at a photo of her newborn baby Neysel while in a Stamford Hospital ICU on April 24, 2020, in Stamford, Conn.
John Moore/Getty Images

According to WABC, Lira will continue to care for the baby until the family tests negative for the virus. "It's an amazing experience, I'm so glad that mom called me and asked me for help and she was able to trust me," Lira said.

As the teacher cares for the baby, she continues to teach remotely.

PHOTO: Stamford Elementary school teacher Luciana Lira holds Neysel while showing the newborn for the first time to his mother Zully, a Guatemalan asylum seeker, and her son Junior, 7, via Zoom on April 20, 2020, in Stamford, Conn.
Stamford Elementary school teacher Luciana Lira holds Neysel while showing the newborn for the first time to his mother Zully, a Guatemalan asylum seeker, and her son Junior, 7, via Zoom on April 20, 2020, in Stamford, Conn.
John Moore/Getty Images

"We're all at home, working and groping for an understanding of this new normal that caught all of us off guard," Colon wrote. "But this unselfish act reminds us that our humanity makes us all essential ... to each other. How will each of us respond when we are asked to simply show up and help. The nurses at the hospital asked my friend if she was the mother’s sister, or perhaps, a cousin as she was listed as the primary contact, Luciana Lira responded, 'I'm just a teacher.'"

Editor's note: This was originally published on May 1, 2020.

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