Simms mourned by family and friends

Seth Williams repeatedly called his girlfriend Courtney Simms on Monday morning to make sure she was feeling better. The call kept going to voice mail.Around 1:30 p.m., Simms finally answered her cell phone.“She said, ‘Baby, I feel horrible…I can’t feel my arms or legs and I’m cold,”‘ he recalled nearly 24 hours later. “I immediately rushed back to my house to find her with rashes all over her face.” He picked her up, carried her to the car and rushed to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. That was about 3 p.m. Three hours later, Simms, a former anchor for FAMU-TV 20 and Fashion Fair Cosmetics spokesmodel, was pronounced dead. Doctors suspect a rare blood infection, meningococcemia, which is caused by bacteria.“It was and still is surreal…I can’t image not calling her anymore…we never went more that two days without speaking to each other,” Williams said. “Her being taken away from me is something I can’t comprehend.”After they reached the hospital, the minor flu like symptoms became much worse. Simms’ heart failed and doctors had to use Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) to bring her back to life five times Williams said.“The doctor’s told me to encourage her to keep her motivated…who knew those were the last words I would ever speak to her.” On Tuesday, friends, relatives and former classmates recalled Simms’ life and the last few days of what looked like a promising life. “I never been in love before and Courtney was definitely my first,” Williams said. “She made me into a better man and encouraged me to live life to the fullest.”Simms older sister who was contacted during the final moments of her sister’s life remembers her as a strong individual.“She was able to make and thrive even after the death of her mom two years ago,” said Dedra Simms. “She’s a talented, intelligent black woman. She was glamorous and gorgeous – that’s one thing she always loved to do, smile and model.” Longtime friend and classmate Georgia Dawkins said Courtney was an inspiration to all rattlers. “She was a hard worker in and out of school,” recalled Dawkins, 21, a senior broadcast journalism student from Sebring, Fla. “She put in a lot of hours and vested a lot into her career…this is something to emulate.”Brandon McCaskill remembers when the two become close friends.“Valentines day 2008 I treated her to dinner at a place called the Warehouse…we were really cool afterwards,” said McCaskill 21, a senior broadcast student from Largo, Md. ” We had plans to move to L.A. for modeling and acting.”Monique Mitchell met Courtney during their freshman year and were both Presidential Ambassadors together.“She touched a lot of people…she was very dependable,” said Mitchell, 21, broadcast student from Miami. “We called each other chocolate beauties.”Williams was the last of her close friends to see her alive, he recalls their last words.“We had a saying that we always shared ‘you and me against the world’…I told her that and asked her did she love me, she struggled to nod her head once and she slowly moved her lips to say yes,” Williams said.Williams who had a crush on Simms since 2006 said Courtney taught him not to worry and in all things have fun. According to Dedra, a memorial on campus is in the works for Thursday and the funeral will be in Gary, Ind., sometime next week.