Coronavirus In Minnesota: St. Paul School Board Chairwoman On Ventilator Battling COVID-19
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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A top St. Paul educator and chairwoman is in the ICU, along with her father, connected to a ventilator battling COVID-19.
Marny Xiong, 31, and her father Zahoua Xiong are listed in critical condition at a St. Paul hospital.
"Just think of it this way, if it affects you, then it affects your entire family and the people that love you," said Dai Thao, Marny's brother-in-law and St. Paul councilman, "The important thing now is they are in good care and the doctors and nurses are doing their best."
Thao says they are a family embedded in their community in politics, as neighbors and as friends. Marny has been a chairperson on the St. Paul School Board since 2018 and attended this school district herself.
Dr. Joe Gothard, the SPPS Superintendent sent out this statement saying in part:
We know her as a friend and fighter; a fighter for student equity, student opportunity and student achievement. Her spirit of not giving up has never been more important.
Thao says the family believes as a leader in education Marny will use this challenge as a teaching moment.
"We know that they'll recover and they will come back," Thao said. "We will use this as a lesson to educate other folks about COVID-19."
Marny's father is a technician considered an essential employee, still going into work before getting sick. The family tells WCCO they aren't sure if he contracted the virus from work, but they think he somehow became sick from his daily exposure to other people.
The family wants to thank the doctors and nurses from Regions Hospital, St. John's Hospital and Bethesda COVID-19 Care Unit for taking care of Marny and Zahoua.
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