An Illinois elementary school located in a small rural town is mourning the death of two teachers after one died of surgical complications and another hung herself.
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A tiny rural town in southern Illinois is in shock after a kindergarten teacher hanged herself in her classroom earlier this week.
Linda Walker, 45, was discovered hanging in her classroom on Monday afternoon by one of her coworkers at Tri-C Elementary school in Carterville, about an hour east of the Missouri border.
The teacher performed CPR on Walker before emergency crews arrived and rushed her to a local hospital, the Southern Illinoisan reported.
She died Tuesday morning.
In a grim coincidence, Walker died on the same day the town was burying another longtime Carterville kindergarten teacher.
Lynn Byrnes, 72, died last Thursday from surgical complications. Her funeral was on Tuesday.
“These things are so awful,” Carterville school district Superintendent Robert Prusator told the newspaper. “Sometimes we don’t know the best thing to do.
“Fortunately, our kids, staff and community is a tight, resilient group,” he said. “This is a day where everyone digs down and does a lot of work.”
School officials said as many as 30 counselors were available at area schools to help the community cope with the losses.
This is extremely sad … our prayers go out to both of their families and the students/faculty at the school.
