A North Carolina college student who refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine despite his mother’s repeated pleas died Monday.
Tyler Gilreath, 20, had just started his sophomore year at North Carolina-Wilmington when he tested positive for the virus in late August, local NBC affiliate WECT reported. Gilreath had promised his mom, Tamra Demello, that he would get the shot after he got to school, but his positive test came two days after arrival.
“He rationalized that a healthy 20 year old that gets it ‘won’t get that sick,'” Demello wrote in a Facebook post. “I cajoled, encouraged, threatened, and nagged for him to get vaccinated.”
Despite being healthy and having no preexisting conditions, Gilreath quickly developed a 100-degree fever and spent multiple weeks fighting the virus.
Just when it appeared he was over it, however, doctors discovered sinus and staph infections that began while he was battling COVID, the Raleigh News & Observer reported. His roommates rushed him to the hospital Sept. 20, and he was in and out of consciousness after that.
The infection moved into Gilreath’s brain, causing severe swelling and damage, according to the News & Observer. His parents learned early on Sept. 25 that their son would likely die, and he was taken off life support Monday.
“I would say just get this message out, and if it can even save one person who is on the fence, or if a parent can use it to say, ‘Look how shattered this whole family is,'” Demello told WECT. “This probably won’t happen to you but if there’s any remote possibility that it could — it’s a shot.”