Beloved Creator of The GIF Dies Following Complications From COVID, Wife Confirms, NPR

[appalachiablue]

- NPR, March 23, 2022.

Steve Wilhite and his wife, Kathaleen Wilhite, had just purchased a new truck and camper in hopes of camping at some of their favorite spots in Tennessee, Kentucky and Michigan when everything suddenly changed. On March 1, Steve Wilhite, the beloved creator of the GIF file format, contracted COVID-19. "It came on suddenly. He woke up one morning and he said, 'Honey, I don't feel good. I don't feel good at all.' And he was running a fever, throwing up so badly. And then the next day he started coughing badly," Kathaleen Wilhite told NPR over the phone Wednesday night.

Kathaleen, who had also contracted COVID-19, had Steve taken to a hospital near their home in Milford, Ohio, where he was treated with antibiotics before being placed in intensive care. The pair couldn't see each other because of her diagnosis, she said. Steve was ultimately placed in a coma. Kathaleen tested negative on or about March 10 and was able to be by his bedside, she said. Then she received a call on March 14 from the hospital.

"They said, 'Mrs. Wilhite, you need to get here right away,' that 'he has turned to the worse, and you need to come,' " Kathaleen said, recalling the conversation. Shortly after her arrival, Steve passed away due to complications from COVID-19, Kathaleen said. He was 74. "It's just so bad. It's just so tragic," Kathaleen said.

In the weeks leading up to March 1, Kathaleen said, Steve could be found in his model-train room tinkering with his creations and computer programming, one of his constants in life, which led to the creation of the GIF file format in 1987 while he was at CompuServe. "I think the first GIF was a picture of a plane. It was a long time ago," Steve told the Daily Dot in a rare interview via Facebook in May 2012...

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/23/1088410133/gif-creator-dead-steve-wilhite-kathaleen-wife-interview

[dweller]

1. he was treated with antibiotics

huh, just like Clarence …
🤔



✌🏻

[appalachiablue]

4. I assumed they were vaxed. Do you know otherwise?

In the 2 extra articles I just read, nothing about this was mentioned, but he'd had a stroke c. 2001. Remarks noted he was a humble, kind person. Sad.

[DURHAM D]

2. Was he vaccinated? nt

[Bev54]

3. I think that would be a firm No

Where he is from and his quick illness certainly screams unvaccinated.

[brush]

8. And his wife had it, so it seems she wasn't either.

If it was a break through infection it's usually mentioned.

[MontanaMama]

9. I'm triple vaxxed.

I got Covid in January and went down hard. It’s the sickest I’ve been in my adult life. It’s possible to get very sick when you’re vaccinated.

[appalachiablue]

5. See #4. I was wondering the same.

[DURHAM D]

6. I think the above responder is correct.

Very fast take down. Also, usually when someone is vaccinated that fact is included.

[appalachiablue]

7. OK then & status is often mentioned. How strange.