MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Who is Erica Casher? Nurse trolled for mocking teen who said Covid killed his grandma

Despite the heckling, Tennessee high schooler Grady Knox kept his cool

MURFREESBORO, TENNESSEE: In a video that has gone viral on social media, a Tennessee high schooler is making a passionate plea for masks, for the health and wellbeing of himself, his family and his schoolmates. In his plea, Grady Knox said his grandmother had died from Covid "because someone wasn’t wearing a mask". But behind him sits a grown woman who was mocking him.

Earlier this week, on Tuesday evening, September 7, 2021, at a Rutherford County Board of Education meeting, Knox was among the seven students who asked the Board of Education to make masks mandatory. But in the video that has gone viral on social media, one can see Knox being ridiculed, even laughed at, by some in the school board meeting audience. When he said his grandmother died of Covid-19 after being exposed to a person without a mask, the woman behind him sitting with a 'Let Out Kids Smile' placard, identified as Erica Casher, laughed. She went viral with many social media users asking for her to be fired from her job for her behavior.

READ MORE 

Woman in viral TikTok video refuses to wear mask on JetBlue flight, causes 3-hr delay

Anti-masker Busta Rhymes called a 'clown' for screaming 'Covid could suck a d**k'

The teen's speech

Grady Knox was part of a group of six Central Magnet School students organized by classmate Will Severn to speak in favor of masks. In his speech, Knox said, "...I’m worried about my family. If I get Covid, I’m going to bring it to my family, and I talk to my grandparents a lot. They are higher risk than me, so I don’t want to give them COVID." Then he spoke about his grandmother: "This time last year, my grandmother, who was a former teacher at the Rutherford County school system, died of COVID because someone wasn’t wearing a mask." Cue here, Casher's laugh. 

Despite the heckling, Knox kept his cool and stopped for a few seconds. When the audience continued heckling, board Chairman Coy Young spoke. "Hey guys, we’re here to act professional," Young said. His grandmother reportedly lived at Adams Place retirement community in Murfreesboro before she died of Covid-19. Before that, she retired from a career as an English teacher at Oakland High, Kerry Knox, Grady's father, a Murfreesboro attorney said.

"This is going to continue if we don’t have a mask mandate. Contact tracing has been a big issue for students this year because all of us know that if we get contact traced we’re going to miss at least a week of school. That’s a week of instruction, a week of teacher contact that we’re going to miss," Knox continued. "This is an avoidable issue, and by not wearing masks in schools, it’s irresponsible. We’re killing people. This is not something we should be doing for the education of our students. Thank you," he concluded. 

Who is Erica Casher?

After laughing at Knox spoke about his grandmother, Erica Casher went viral on social media (Some sources have spelt her name as Erika Casher). Many users put their skills together to identify her as a Registered Nurse. In a conversation with WKRN News, Casher had said, "I’m concerned about mandating them [masks]. I saw that in Williamson County obviously, they did. COVID obviously is real. As a healthcare provider, I’m aware of that. But, it’s been used to take away our individual liberties over the last year. She also added that masks should be a parent's choice. 

On social media, many called her out for her immature behavior. "....how heartless do you have to be to laugh at a child talking about the painful death of his grandmother? At a rally about CHILDREN, of all things. This is further proof that these types of people don’t actually care about the causes for which they’re advocating. It’s not about the children. It’s about us-vs-them and the toddler tantrum of “you can’t tell me what to do!!”" one user shared on Reddit. Another added, "Why are there so many in healthcare that are assholes?"

One pointed out, "I mean how ironic is it that she is holding a sign that says “Let our kids smile” and laughs at a tragic event this kid spoke about? Out of all these byebyejob posts this one I think so far has been the most satisfying." A Twitter user said, "some people are just rotten" while another added, "a good rule of thumb is that the good guys are usually not laughing at 15 year olds recounting the death of their grandmother".

As per an unverified tweet, Erica Casher was allegedly fired from her job at Cigna. "Just an update, an acquaintance that works with @Cigna has verified that #ErikaCasher was fired yesterday," a social media user said. However, MEAWW cannot independently verify this piece of information. 

When some users asked for proof, the user explained, "They will ignore the whole thing, @cigna is such a large company one person acting ignorant that is a cog in the wheel won't get a mention from them until their stock plummets and they get backed in a corner. If it was a higher up that had more value... another story."