“I know she wants to go home and teach. She wants to be with the kids she taught,” Philip told Bello. “She was really on oxygen education when she was in the hospital, but her condition had reached a point where she could not breathe physically.”
Phileme’s balloon returned to the hospital on November 28 after about two weeks, his brother said. A week later, she put on a ventilator in a last-ditch effort to save her life.
But on December 11, the previously healthy 44-year-old died at Loveless Medical Center in Albuquerque. She is survived by three children and a grandson, as well as her parents, brother and sister.
Many of the students served by the Balloon family and teachers are part of New Mexico’s Navajo Nation.
She wanted every student to feel special
Phileme’s bellows gave her students her heart and she did everything she could to meet them at their level, her brother said.
“Very difficult students were given my sister,” Bello said with a laugh. “She taught the kids to leave everyone but her. She never left anyone’s hand.”
Ballon was a teacher at Wingate Elementary School in Fort Wingate, New Mexico, about two hours west of Albuquerque. Her school confirmed her death in a statement to CNN.
Principal Eric North said, “Her smile spread across her classroom and her laughter was heard echoing in Hall Loves.” “She always spoke kind words to others who came her way, whether in the cafeteria, on the buses or on the playground. Her energy was contagious and her sense of humor was contagious.”
During the epidemic, Philama taught Bell virtual classes, his brother said. However, many of its students do not have access to reliable internet, he said.
As a result, Bello said her sister would drive two hours a week and leave class materials at school for her students.
He customized the content for everyone, he said. She made paper copies for some students, while others had laptops but no internet, so she made them flash drives that contained content. Other students could only get get online from their parents’ phones at night, so they worked nights to meet their needs.
“She provided arts and crafts, a few personal notes and souvenirs per child,” Bello said. “When she was available, she taught her children either by phone, textbooks, the Internet, and made hard copies of all her curriculum for weeks.”
Ballon estimates that his sister worked 70 hours a week. She did it because she loves students and she wanted everyone to feel special, her brother said.
“Many of the kids he worked with didn’t have an excellent upbringing, so he always went to another level to stay involved with them and be an older sister or aunt with them.”
“My sister also had some difficult circumstances in her life, so she had a special connection with the behavioral children,” Bello said. “She would love to join the kids and make them happy. This was her reward.”
She stayed healthy and kept fighting for her life
Philama’s bellows began to feel uncomfortable on November 12, her brother said. The symptoms were mild at first, but a persistent cough landed him in the emergency room. Doctors diagnosed him with covid-19 and pneumonia.
Doctors gave her oxygen and she stayed there for three days, but her desire to return to school was strong, her brother said.
She went home with an oxygen tank and a mask, forcing her to continue studying until the end of the school term, her brother said. His youngest son lived with his mother but she was out of the house while his mother was quarantining.
Within two weeks, her condition worsened and she was rushed back to Albuquerque Hospital.
Filame’s balloon was a runner and a choice to exercise. She said her brother was surprised she had to be put on a ventilator on Dec. 6.
The family also understood the meaning of the ventilator – both went on the ventilator after Ballon lost his aunt and uncle to the virus, he said.
They thought Philemena’s balloon was okay. “Before that he was a healthy and vibrant, good soul who we never expected to be in this situation,” Belo said.
He kept fighting and reassuring his family that he would be fine, he said. Philemena Balon never wanted anyone to fuss about him and he is a very private person.
“We didn’t know she was in such dramatic circumstances until she was physically admitted a second time,” Bello said. “I was under the impression that she was still recovering and the symptoms weren’t so bad. She hid it all very well from all of us.”
The family said doctors found a blood clot in his lung and he had a broken lung. She also went into kidney failure and underwent the necessary dialysis.
“I saw her in her worst but realized she had to fight her heart out and she was ready to relax.” Eventually, his family made the heartbreaking decision to remove him from the ventilator.
“After we made the decision … I was literally numb,” Bello said. “I had no feeling in my body. I didn’t know I was dreaming or I didn’t know what was real.”
She had a ‘big vibrant contagious smile’
While she was not in class, Philama’s bellows enjoyed horseback riding, hunting, crafting, and traveling. She also loved to dance, and spent time teaching students some moves, her brother said.
But, for the most part, “she loved children,” her brother said.
Filamana Balon was a devoted, loving mother to three children.
“Her children are completely devastated by the loss of their precious sweet mom,” Bello said.
Quaina, 22, Michael Ballon, 27, and Dion Dotson, 19, are now losing their mother’s love and support. He also left behind a 4-year-old granddaughter Mila.
But what Ballon will remember most about her sister is her smile with “beautiful dimples on her right cheek”.
“Everyone will miss his big vibrant contagious smile. Everyone will miss his laughter,” he said. “What I’m going to pay the most about her is her willingness to make people happy at any cost.”
Belo said he knows the losses he and his family have suffered from the epidemic are not alone.
“Philemena’s story is not unique,” Bello said.
If anything, Ballon hopes people can learn life by serving and giving to her sister.
“She wanted everyone to love each other and not judge each other, to look their best and do whatever it takes to make the world a better place.” “That was his legacy.”
CNN’s Holly Silverman contributed to this report.
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