College Student Dies from COVID After Mom 'Encouraged, Threatened and Nagged' Him to Get Vaccinated

[Demovictory9]

A North Carolina college student who resisted getting vaccinated died of complications from COVID-19 at age 20.

Tyler Gilreath, a student at the University of North Carolina – Wilmington, thought that his age would protect him against the virus if he were to get sick and was concerned about side effects from a COVID-19 vaccine, his mom, Tamra Demello, said.

"He rationalized that a healthy 20 year old that gets it 'won't get that sick,' " Demello wrote on Facebook. "I cajoled, encouraged, threatened, and nagged for him to get vaccinated. He was too busy and/or concerned about the 'possible long term heart issues' but finally agreed to get it at soon as he moved at school. He didn't get the chance."

Two days after Gilreath moved into college, he contracted COVID-19, Demello told WECT News. Despite having no preexisting conditions, he quickly got severely ill, and developed a sinus and staph infection that lasted for three weeks before moving into his brain.

Gilreath developed a brain abscess that ruptured while he was in his dorm last week. He was briefly conscious after going to the hospital, but the blood flow to his brain soon stopped, and on Friday a CAT scan showed that he had irreversible brain damage.

On Tuesday morning, he was taken off life support and died.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/college-student-dies-from-covid-after-mom-encouraged-threatened-and-nagged-him-to-get-vaccinated/ar-AAOVjfV?ocid=msedgntp

[Control-Z]

1. His poor mother. Damn.eom

[beaglelover]

2. Wow, what a horrible story.

[berni_mccoy]

3. So very tragic. Please get vaccinated!

[ProfessorGAC]

4. Yikes!!

I wonder if there wasn't an underlying, not yet diagnosed condition that caused that much damage, that quickly.
COVID, sinuses, staph... All in succession seems like an alarm bell.
Too bad he didn't listen to his mom. If only for her sake. She obviously was pleading with him.

[BannonsLiver]

10. It's a good question

Makes me wonder if some of the extremely young who have died had something going on that was undiagnosed. I know when I was in my 20s I rarely went to the doctor, even for checkups.

[LisaL]

11. It's called covid virus.

His death was caused by infection, not by pre-existing conditions.

[ProfessorGAC]

18. I Didn't Say Otherwise

Your knee jerk response was unwarranted.
And, you're wrong.
Young people getting this sick, this fast, with multiple infections is NOT the norm.
People dying from COVID are dying from respiratory failure or severe pneumonia caused by COVID. That's not what this case described. It including sinus & staph infection.
Lastly, I didn't say it was preexisting condition, which by definition, is a known diagnosis.
I specifically said "not yet diagnosed".

[Dorian Gray]

21. The Staph infection

isn't uncommon in public places. My daughter has had them. With a incapacitated immune system fighting covid, it isn't super surprising that the staph infection got worse/not better.

[Caliman73]

15. Could have just been a tragic confluence of events.

While we are learning more about how COVID-19 affects people everyday, we still do not know everything. It has only been with us going on 2 years. Staph is an opportunistic bacteria that can wreak havoc on a compromised immune system. Dorm rooms and congregate living spaces are prime breeding grounds for Staph.

The problem is with the disinformation that has been put out by right wing media that has flooded into social media sources where the son probably got his "news".

There has always been disinformation, but social media and internet has created a problem of volume and scope. You have people like Nicki Minaj tweeting out stupid shit like "your balls get bigger and you go impotent" to millions upon millions of people, and by the time authorities respond, they are on to something else.

[Wingus Dingus]

5. Poor mom. It's so hard to be a parent and watch your adult kids make bad choices.

I know how it feels, and how much anxiety it causes.

[Hekate]

6. Every parent's worst nightmare

[Nevilledog]

7. So sad and so unnecessary.

[marble falls]

8. Losing children for any reason has to be the worst.

[abqtommy]

9. How's that FreeDumb workin' out for ya, Tyler? Sorry, Tyler is not available for

comment.

[ecstatic]

12. That's awful... and those were strange symptoms.

Sinus and staph infection? I wonder if he tried to self treat using nasal spray remedies.

[Caliman73]

16. I don't think they were symptoms...

He likely caught opportunistic infections from a lowered immune system. The COVID-19 likely brought down the gates and whatever virus/bacteria, and the Staph just stormed on through.

When people were getting HIV and dying of AIDS, they were typically not dying of the HIV itself, a lot of it was pneumonia, sarcomas, meningitis, etc... AIDS definitely killed them but it killed them by destroying their immune system and allowing other opportunistic illnesses a place to invade.

This is something that many people do not realize. COVID-19 does not have a high mortality rate, but it leaves you open for other illnesses, Plus, it can cause a bunch of its own havoc in your system that can leave you damaged for life, even if it or another opportunistic illness doesn't kill you.

It is always good to have a health skepticism, but you need to really understand where the best sources of information are. What are the motives of people putting out the anti-vax stuff? Usually it is not pro-social. They are selling something, or they hate a particular group of people (liberals) and want to disrupt their "agenda".

[ecstatic]

20. Great points! nt

[Dorian Gray]

22. Yes, exactly this

When you are sick with a virus, your body and its immune system weaken. THat's why secondary bacterial infections are so common. (Why so many people get bacterial pneumonia after a bad bout of a viral infection. My daughter got a terrible staph infection right after she had roseola as a toddler. These things happen. That it ended in death in a 20 year old is tragic and horrible. And to think it could have been prevented by a simple vaccine is heartbreaking.)

[Bluesaph]

13. This is a weird story

With a lot of missing details. How did he get a sinus infection and staph from Covid? I haven’t heard of those side effects. ¯_(ツ _/¯

Regardless, that poor mom. Breaks my heart! My 31 year old pregnant daughter finally agreed to get jabbed. It took me buying the family Hamilton tickets to which she was ineligible to attend unvaxxed.

I just hope she gets it today and not tomorrow!

[maxsolomon]

14. The "Concern about Side Effects" excuse is really goring my ox.

THEY ARE VANISHINGLY RARE. It is NOT a valid reason.

Sorry for your loss, Ms. Demello.

[Caliman73]

17. Agreed.

There is always a small possibility of side effects or allergic reaction, but that typically pales in comparison to the effects of the illness that they are trying to prevent.

It isn't "healthy skepticism" it is fear that is being fed to people for some agenda. Usually hucksters trying to make money or people with a political agenda who prey on people who do not have the critical thinking skills to determine what is a reputable source of information.

[peggysue2]

19. A brain abscess? Dear God!

Like this kid's mother, I would have been equally a nag, a pain in the butt, an embarrassment to put up with, etc., etc.
Moms will do anything to protect their kids which is why I simply can't wrap my head around anti-vaxx families.

The only good that can out of this dreadful outcome is perhaps the young man's death will be a wake-up call to fellow students:

Yes, even twenty-year olds can die. And suffer. That includes YOU.

Poor parents! A nightmare.

[Dorian Gray]

23. Exactly

my ten year old and I are counting the days until we can get her vaccinated. I know he was 20 and an adult and responsible for his own medical care at this point, and that poor mother is suffering such a huge loss here as a result of a bad decision.

I have so much sympathy for her.