Sharon Ciferno fell about 20 feet after losing her balance while sitting on the wall of a deck, which acted as a backless seat, her brother said.
A Pennsylvania woman has died after losing her balance while laughing hard and falling off a roof deck in front of her horrified daughter and friends during a vacation to Mexico, devastated loved ones said.
Sharon Ciferno, 50, and her daughter were on a 20-day vacation with another mother and daughter when the group traveled from San Diego to Mexico earlier this month.
Ciferno was on the roof deck of their host’s home when she plummeted about 20 feet and landed on concrete on Aug. 4, her brother David Regoli wrote on a CaringBridge site dedicated to providing updates on his sister’s well-being.
She had been sitting on the wall of the deck, which acted as a backless seat, when she began laughing very hard and fell backward, Regoli said.
Ciferno was rushed to the border and emergency responders there transported her to University of California San Diego Medical Center, where she died Aug. 14.
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“After a week of fighting for recovery, she passed peacefully with her family at her side,” her obituary read.
Loved ones remembered her for her dedication to her 17-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter, as well as the countless children she taught during her 28 years as a sixth grade teacher at Charles A. Huston Middle School.
“She not only passed along skills in math, science, reading and history but was also passionate about instilling values of fairness, kindness and generosity. In those instances, she truly led by example,” her obituary said.
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Ciferno’s students, both past and present, took to social media to express their condolences over the tragic loss.
“Mrs. Ciferno had a huge impact on my life as one of her students. I was devastated to hear this sad news,” one person wrote on her CaringBridge page.
“I never had Mrs. Ciferno in school, but she never hesitated to stop and talk to me in the hallways and even now when I'd see her at work,” another posted.
Ciferno’s organs have been donated to save the lives of five people, her family said.
“Although she is gone from this life, Sharon lives on in them, through her faith, and within the people she loved,” her obituary read.
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