Jason Englebert, a 38-year-old teacher from Iowa, died suddenly only three days after testing positive for COVID-19.
The Belmond-Klemme Community School District teacher was found dead in his home on Sunday, reports People. His family told KCCI, a local TV news station, that they believe that COVID-19 could have led to a heart attack or stroke, though a cause of death has not yet been released.
After an increase in coronavirus cases in the area, the school district did mass testing, which is how Englebert discovered that he was positive for the virus. His family shared that he reported a mild headache around the same time.
Along with teaching in the talented and gifted program, Englebert also coached several sports including basketball and volleyball, and was planning to coach track in the spring. Prior to that, he taught math in several Iowa school districts, according to his obituary.
Dan Frazier, superintendent of Belmond-Klemme, said that “Jason was always such a pleasure to have because he had such a positive attitude, a lot of energy, and the rapport he had with students was remarkable.”
“For the students, of course it was such a shock at first. Many of our students had trouble knowing how to register this,” shared Frazier.
Friends have set up a GoFundMe campaign to help raise money to cover funeral expenses. “Teaching was more than a job for Jason. He wanted to meet all students where they were. He was a leader and innovator and was ready to take on new initiatives or bring what he had learned to his colleagues to help them grow as well,” they wrote on the fundraiser’s page, sharing that he “supported extracurricular activities, lead technology initiatives and had a passion for STEM,” and worked multiple jobs to put himself through school to fulfill his dream of becoming an educator.
“He was just a very energetic guy, and he always had a cheerful way of looking at things,” Frazier shared. “It wasn’t unusual for me to ask him how it was going and he would say things like ‘living the dream.’”
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