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John Travolta’s Wife Dies from Breast Cancer, and Teacher Dies From Coronavirus After Being Exposed in the Classroom.
Sadly, John Travolta announced “with a very heavy heart” last night that his wife, Kelly Preston, has died. Preston was 57 years old and died from breast cancer on Sunday morning. He said, “Kelly’s love and life will always be remembered.”
Travolta continued, “I will be taking some time to be there for my children who have lost their mother, so forgive me in advance if you don’t hear from us for a while. But please know that I will feel your outpouring of love in the weeks and months ahead as we heal.”
Travolta revealed that Preston “fought a courageous fight with the love and support of so many.” Ella, their 20-year-old daughter, said she had “never met anyone as courageous” as her mother. “I love you so much, mama,” she added.
The couple also has a 9-year-old son, Benjamin, and had a 16-year-old son, Jett, who lost his life to a seizure in 2009.
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Three Arizona teachers shared a classroom this summer. All was going well until one of them contracted coronavirus, leading to all three of them being exposed. Sadly, one of the teachers lost her life as a result.
Kimberley Chavez Byrd, 61, died on June 26. This happened just two weeks after she was hospitalized with the virus. The other two teachers say that they’re still struggling with the virus and the loss of their friend. Byrd had taught at the Hayden Winkleman School District for 38 years.
According to school officials, all three teachers socially distanced, used hand sanitizer, and wore masks and gloves. However, that didn’t stop them from getting sick.
“Losing Mrs. Byrd in our small rural community was devastating. She was an excellent educator with a huge heart,” said Pamela Gonzalez, principal of Leonor Hambly K8. “We find comfort in knowing her story may bring awareness to the importance of keeping our school employees safe and our precious students safe in this pandemic.”
Jeff Gregorich, the superintendent of the school district, said he is concerned about the remaining staff and students.
“I think that’s really the message or the concern that our staff has is we can’t even keep our staff safe by themselves. How are we going to keep 20 kids in a classroom safe? I just don’t see how that’s possible to do that,” said Gregorich.
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Jesse Byrd Sr, Byrd’s husband, said “I just had this horrible gut-wrenching feeling just knowing how much of a struggle this was going to be. Because I knew her lungs were compromised even before this. Fear… just the worst fear you could feel. I knew this was going to be rough on her.”
Several other members of their family also contracted Covid-19, including Jesse Byrd, his son, daughter, daughter-in-law, 4-year-old granddaughter, and others. Kimberley’s brother also tested positive and has been on a ventilator for over 27 days.
At first, Byrd said his wife’s condition seemed to improve. However, when she awoke, she had a panic attack from being intubated and started to regress.
“We just prayed for a miracle and put her in God’s hands. We said either he’s gonna work a miracle in her and save her, or he’s gonna take her home,” said Byrd. “She didn’t make it. It’s been devastating for us here in our home.”
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He also worries about the impact Covid-19 will have in schools if they reopen this fall.
“Many grandparents wind up being caretakers to kids when they get off school — mom and dad are working and a lot of grandparents are even raising their grandchildren. So, many of these grandparents fall into this high-risk category of being older with more health issues,” he said.
“They have no business opening the schools to try and get back to a traditional classroom … let’s get through this pandemic first before we try to get back to normal.”
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