Courtney Fannon: Pregnant NY teacher sent text to her husband before fatally collapsing in the classroom

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK: A pregnant upstate New York teacher who was just weeks away from having her first child died after collapsing in her classroom. According to USA Today, 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, March 8. 

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 the doctors attempted to save her and her unborn daughter whom they had already named Hadley Jaye.

Kurtis' friend speaks on the devastating incident involving Courtney Fannon 

“The world lost two 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 on a GoFundMe page set up 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 more than $60,000 as of Thursday night, March 14.

Courtney Fannon taught special education in the district since 2018

“Courtney was a special education teacher who served her students with passion and joy each day,” school 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.

Courtney Fannon's husband Kurtis is living the 'worst nightmare', says friend

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.”

Matt Smith pays tribute to Courtney Fannon and her unborn daughter

Fannon, who tied the knot with Kurtis in August 2022 after being together for 10 years, was due to give birth “in just four 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.