Driver who died crashing SUV into Long Island pool ID'd as beloved Jewish teacher, mom of 4

A fatal crash and a community's loss

Allison Rahmani, a 40-year-old math coordinator at the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway and mother of four, died Friday after her SUV plunged into a swimming pool at her home in Hewlett, Nassau County, according to multiple reports.

Police said Rahmani was in her GMC in the driveway of a residence on Elinor Road when she lost control of her car, striking a tree and a parked 2006 Honda before becoming immersed in an inground pool, as reported by the Hindustan Times, citing a police statement to People. She was removed from the car before police arrived, and officers performed first aid before she was taken to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Rahmani was able to call 911 from the vehicle but died en route to the hospital, according to police reports cited by the New York Post and the Hindustan Times. The New York Post reported Sunday, citing sources close to the investigation, that police believe she suffered a medical emergency that led to the crash and do not suspect foul play. The investigation remains ongoing, and her cause of death has not been made public, as noted by the Hindustan Times.

A funeral and a tribute

Rahmani was remembered Sunday at a funeral service at Boulevard-Riverside Chapels in Hewlett — the same day she had been scheduled to leave for a trip to Paris with her husband, Matthew, to celebrate her 40th birthday, as reported by the New York Post and The Jewish Chronicle.

At the service, Matthew Rahmani, president of Irving Place Minyan Modern Orthodox Synagogue in Woodmere, recited the "Eshet Chayil," or "Woman of Valor," a Jewish wedding prayer traditionally recited by grooms to their brides. He apologized for not having said it at their wedding, adding, "I can't imagine more fitting words for the woman you were," as quoted by The Jewish Chronicle and the New York Post.

Matthew spoke of the central role his wife had played in their life together, saying, "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," as reported by The Jewish Chronicle. He also described how Allison had "nurtured them like delicate plants" as a mother to their four children and vowed to "pick up where you left off" as a parent, according to the New York Post. He recalled how the couple had "lived paycheck to paycheck" in their first apartment, as reported by the New York Post.

Rahmani's mother, Rachelle Rohde, told mourners, "We are broken. We will never be the same," as quoted in The Jewish Chronicle and the New York Post. Her sister, Dana Hess, described her as "the life of the party" and an educator who taught "because she loved to," according to the New York Post. A friend, Shayna Unger, shared a story of how Rahmani had set up a beauty salon in her classroom to do the hair of grieving girls after a school mother passed away, as reported by the New York Post.

Community tributes also poured in on Facebook, with one user writing, "Tragic! She was the most amazing person. I can't believe she's gone," and another calling her "a LIGHT that shined from the minute she walked in til the minute she left," as reported by the New York Post.

Investigation ongoing

The incident remains under investigation. Police have not publicly released a cause of death, and while sources told the New York Post that foul play is not suspected, the investigation has not concluded. The New York Post reported that Rahmani managed to call for help from the vehicle but died in an ambulance en route to the hospital.