Two years ago, this video of classmates hugging each other for a weekend trip struck a chord and went completely viral. At last check, the feel-good clip had been viewed approximately 24 million times:
The woman who posted it in November 2018, Zelene Blancas, was a teacher in El Paso, where she was well loved both in her school and by the wider community, according to the New York Times. She died of complications from COVID-19 this week at just 35 years old.
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Blancas tested positive for the virus on Oct. 20 and was hospitalized a few days later, her brother explained to the Times. Eventually, she had exhausted all of her sick leave and paid time off and sought help paying for her health care with a GoFundMe page.
“Her calling was only to spread kindness,” Cristina Sanchez-Chavira told the Times. “I think education was the vehicle she found, but she was. She embodied kindness and made others feel special. And she did that inside and outside the classroom. “
Blancas, who was otherwise healthy, had shown signs of recovery early on and was making progress before her condition deteriorated. She was intubated on Nov. 22, her brother told CNN.
According to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University, more than 350,000 people in the United States have died from COVID-19 since Sunday.