Family of Hewlett teacher who died in SUV pool crash raises nearly $300K in her honor

Allison Rahmani, a longtime HAFTR math coordinator and mom of four, sent playful texts to her husband just before the crash

The last thing Ally Rahmani sent her husband was a laugh.

On the morning of Aug. 21, Matt Rahmani texted his wife that he was “feeling so good.” She wrote back “LOL.”

Within hours, the 40-year-old Hewlett mother of four was dead after her SUV went into the in-ground pool behind the family’s home.

“That was literally the last interaction I had with my wife,” Matt Rahmani, 39, told the magazine. He called the exchange “this little banter” that was “so emblematic of our relationship,” People reported.

Just over two months after her death, the family has raised close to $300,000 in her memory.

A Givebutter campaign for the newly formed Ally Rahmani Legacy Foundation had raised $288,375 from nearly 400 supporters.

The crash happened about 10:30 a.m. at the family’s Elinor Road home in Hewlett Bay Park. Nassau County police said Rahmani lost control of her SUV in the driveway and struck a tree and a parked, unoccupied 2006 Honda before going into the pool.

Rahmani was able to call for help. She was pronounced dead after being rushed to the hospital.

Sources close to the investigation told the New York Post she likely suffered a medical episode before the crash. Authorities ruled her death an accident and found no sign of foul play.

The exact cause may never be known. A relative told the Post that the family’s Orthodox Jewish faith generally forbids autopsies and calls for a quick burial. With no criminal investigation, there was no legal basis for a court-ordered autopsy.

Matt Rahmani told People that when he learned about the crash, he prayed for his wife’s safety. He learned soon after that she had died.

Rahmani taught at the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway for nearly 20 years. Most recently, she was the school’s Lower School math coordinator.

“She made them laugh, made them try again, and made them feel proud of the effort, not just the answer,” the fundraising page says of her students.

Her funeral on Aug. 23 at Boulevard-Riverside Chapels in Hewlett drew an overflow crowd. It was the same day she and her husband were supposed to leave for a trip to Paris.

Matt Rahmani is president of the Irving Place Minyan in Woodmere. The foundation plans to pay for one-on-one tutoring scholarships, extracurricular activity scholarships, teacher grants and other programs that build children’s confidence.

According to the campaign page, it will develop those programs with local schools, teachers and organizations, and how many it creates will depend on how much is raised. It may also give grants to other charities with the same mission.

“Ally was the heart and engine of our family,” Matt Rahmani wrote on a memorial website for his wife.

Along with her husband, Rahmani leaves behind their children, Nathan, Jake, Zachary and Chloe.

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