WILMINGTON, N.C. — Tyler Gilreath had just moved into his new dorm room at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and was about to start his junior year of college.
Less than a week after moving in, his mother, Tamra Demello, said Gilreath called her saying he tested positive for coronavirus.
Demello said her son wasn't vaccinated and wasn't planning on getting the shot when he was diagnosed with the virus.
"He said, 'Oh, Mom, if I get sick, for young people, it's no big deal. You have it a couple days, and you get over it.' That's not necessarily true," said Demello.
Gilreath went on to spend three weeks in an area hospital with a severe sinus infection from COVID-19, which then spread to his brain.
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