‘We Are Broken’: Nassau Woman Who Died After Crashing Into Pool Remembered As Loving Mother, Wife, Teacher

HEWLETT BAY PARK, NY — Allison Rahmani was supposed to be flying to Paris Sunday.

According to her dear Friend, Shayna Ungar, Allison's husband, Matthew, had surprised her last week with a first-class trip to Paris to celebrate her 40th birthday.

Tragically, Allison would not be on the flight when it took off: She died in a car accident Friday, and her family and friends gathered Sunday to say their goodbyes to a loving mother, devoted wife and tireless teacher.

According to Nassau County police, Rahmani died Friday morning after crashing her GMC into a swimming pool in Hewlett Bay Park, becoming submerged before she could be pulled from the vehicle. Once she was out of the vehicle, medics tried to save her life before she was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead, police said.

To date, police have not made public the cause of Rahmani's death. The New York Post reported that Rahmani appeared to have suffered a medical episode prior to the crash.

In a funeral service Sunday, Rahmani was remembered as an integral member of a community. That community, multiple speakers said Sunday, would join together to make sure Rahmani’s family had all the support they needed as they continued to mourn the loss of someone so dear.

“To my beloved grandchildren — Nathan, Jake, Zachary and Princess [Chloe] — and, of course, to the one of a kind, her husband Matthew: Mama loves you all more than you will ever know,” Rahmani’s mother, Rachelle Rohde, said in a eulogy of her daughter. “Allison, I know you are watching. I know. We won’t let you down. We will never ever be able to fill your shoes, ever, but we, as a family, will do everything humanly possible to see your family get through this and live the lives you envisioned for them. Allison, I love you.”

In her eulogy, Rohde said she had just bought a new car seat for Chloe, claiming that the girl she calls “Princess Chlo Chlo” deserved better than a hand-me-down.

Multiple siblings of Alli’s also spoke Sunday, telling mourners how their sister had been there for them when they needed her most and lamenting the fact that they wouldn’t get to watch their children grow up together.

“I don’t remember a time before her,” Rahmani’s sister, Jamie, said. “It feels surreal, impossible and completely unjust that I’m standing here speaking about her in the past tense. She was too young.”

In addition to being remembered by her family, Rahmani was remembered Sunday as a teacher at the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR), where a staff directory listed her as a math coordinator.

Ungar recalled Rahmani staying after school for hours to give extra instruction to kids who needed it, saying, “the kids needed it, so she stayed.”

“Alli was a person of action. If something was wrong, she didn’t sit around talking about how terrible it was, she figured out what she could do and she did it,” Ungar said.

On one occasion, Ungar said Rahmani had set up a “beauty salon” in her classroom at HAFTR for a family of little girls who had lost their mother, so that she could do their hair before school everyday. That kind of dedication, going the extra mile, Ungar said, was typical of her friend.

“Alli didn’t teach because she had to, she taught because she loved it…she genuinely believed a teacher could change a child’s life,” Ungar said. “Alli would say, ‘there are no bad kids, Shayna. You’re going to change their lives.’ She meant it. Where someone else saw a difficult child, Alli saw potential.”

Ungar also recalled Matthew’s gift to his wife, the ticket to Paris.

“They were supposed to be leaving this Sunday. Today. Instead we’re standing here. There are really no words for that,” Ungar said. “I don’t know how we’re supposed to say goodbye to someone who filled up so much space in our lives.”

When the time came for Matthew to speak about his wife, the father of four began by reciting the Eshet Chayil, or “Woman of Valor,” a prayer traditionally recited by husbands to wives at Jewish weddings.

“I’m sorry I didn’t sing it at our wedding,” Matthew said. “I can’t imagine more fitting words for the woman you were. Every major decision point in our lives, you took me by the hand, you pulled me. You said it would be ok, that you believed in me — in us. You were my boat, you were the wind in my sail and you were my north star, all at the same time.”

Rahmani recalled living “paycheck to paycheck” in their first apartment together, and points where his wife had “brought life” to their homes, promising repeatedly that things would be ok. He recalled the way his wife had been able to give him strength and confidence when he needed it, and recalled how he had been known around town as “Mrs. Rahmani’s Husband” for longer than he could remember.

He also recalled what his wife had meant to the community that was now gathered to mourn her.

“Alli poured her heart and soul into the community, into her students. She shared with me all of it,” Matthew said. “The troubles, the successes, every time a student told her what Mrs. Rahmani meant to them, she told me. She saved the notes, she saved the texts, she was proud and I was so proud of you, Alli.”

That dedication to community, Matthew said, had become her legacy.

“The kids loved your vibe, they loved your energy, and I understand now what I think I always knew: The same confidence you gave me, you gave to them, too,” Matthew said. “That was your essence, and now it’s your legacy. You had an energy inside you stronger than the sun. How could it ever dim? How could it ever go out? I thought it was impossible.”