While the pandemic is largely responsible for a seemingly neverending wave of challenges, many people are accepting the challenge and going above and beyond for their communities. It is a tragic and confusing time, but it is also an opportunity for people to show their support to one another. Many are going to extraordinary lengths, making complete strangers part of their family.

One such story comes recently from Stamford, Connecticut.

One day, Luciana Lira, a bilingual/ESL teacher at Hart Magent Elementry school, received a distressing phone call.

The phone call was from Zully Flores. She was breathless, panicked, and in dire need of help with nobody to call. Flores was familiar with the teacher from her son Junior attending her class.

“’Miss Lira?’ she said in Spanish. ‘I need help.’”

The Guatemalan immigrant family was seeking asylum and living in Connecticut. Zully, her husband Marvin, and their son Junior were struggling to get by in the wake of the Coronavirus. When the pandemic hit, Zully and Marvin both lost their jobs. In addition, Zully was pregnant.

But this was just the beginning for the family.

They would soon find out that all three of them were positively infected with the Coronavirus itself. And to make matters worse, Zully was about to have to deliver her baby prematurely. The family had no options.

ABC7 news elaborated:

“The family reportedly told Lira there was no one in the country who could help them and had listed her as their emergency contact.”

So they called Luciana Lira. Zully instructed the teacher to call her husband Marvin.

The Hartford Courant reported:

“At the time, Lira wouldn’t have known Marvin if she walked into him. Her only contact with him was seeing him in the distance on parent-teacher conference night, waving hello.”

But Lira made the call and listened to Marvin recount a very stressful situation to her.

He relayed his fears of his wife delivering their baby five weeks early, as well as his fears about the family being diagnosed with the virus.

The teacher recalls the conversation with the terrified husband:

“All he could do is cry. And cry. And cry,” Lira said. “He said, ‘She was five weeks early. I’m just terrified. I don’t know what’s going on in my life.’”

And in a moment of true humanity, kindness, and heroism, the teacher agreed to take the newborn into the safety of her own home.

Her own family was quarantined at home, but the teacher didn’t hesitate. She knew what had to be done.

Baby Neysel Flores was born via C-Section weighing 5-pounds, 12-ounces. He was delivered safely and born healthy, but his mother was left in a critical situation.

The baby was discharged only five days after birth. Lira made her way to the hospital to bring Neysel home. She donned a mask, gloves, and protective gear and posted a picture to Facebook.

Neysel is doing very well and is actively living with the Lira family. The Flores family is able to visit with their newborn via Zoom right now while they recover from the virus. The doctors have determined Zully will need rehabilitation to help her fully recover, and with the family having no means of income or insurance, Lira began a GoFundMe for the family.

The fundraiser is currently active and the family has raised $49,514 of their $50,000 goal.

Check out this amazing story of the Lira and Flores family in the post and video below!

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

https://www.facebook.com/joy.cologne/posts/10223258871638815

Sources: Parenting Isn’t Easy, ABC7, Hartford Courant