Shirley Bannister COVID death: Mother of South Carolina teacher, Demetria ‘Demi’ Bannister who died from coronavirus less than 3 weeks after daughter from deadly virus.
A South Carolina college nursing instructor died from complications of coronavirus on Sunday — less than three weeks after her 3rd grade teacher daughter fatally succumbed to the deadly virus.
Shirley Bannister, 57, the nursing department chair at Midlands Technical College, tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 7, the same day her 28-year-old Richland Two teacher daughter Demetria ‘Demi’ Bannister died, a relative told WISTV.
The mother went to the hospital three times, complaining of symptoms, before finally being admitted, her sister-in-law Shirley Mills Bannister told the news station.
‘I just heard her saying, ‘Shirley…they won’t test us, they won’t let me get any treatment because they say that my symptoms are not severe enough and I need treatment,’ the relative said.
News of the elder Bannister’s death shook the school community where she worked.
‘Her life mission was caring for others.’
‘My heart is broken. Shirley was like an angel on Earth,’ Midlands Technical College President Dr. Ronald Rhames said in a statement obtained by WIS. ‘Her life mission was caring for others.’
According to Rhames, the mother earned her nursing degree from MTC before teaching there and rising to chair of the school’s nursing department.
‘While her death is devastating, her impact is everlasting,’ Rhames said.
Her daughter was a third-grade teacher at Windsor Elementary School in Columbia. The educator died just three days after being diagnosed with COVID-19.
It remained unclear how mother and daughter came to be infected with the virus and whether the mother contracted the coronavirus from her daughter.
Shirley is survived by her husband Dennis Bannister who also confirmed Shirley’s passing. Demi was Shirley’s only child.
