Twitter/Chad Dorrill
Chad Dorrill is the Appalachian State University student and basketball player who died due to COVID-19 complications in September 2020. He was 19 years old.
In a statement, Dorrill’s mother Susan said that her son was tired for two weeks prior to his diagnosis. Susan Dorrill said in part, “Little did we know it was secretly attacking his body in a way they have never seen before.” She added that doctors said that Dorrill was a 1-10,000,000 case. Susan Dorrill added, “if it can happen to a super healthy 19-year-old boy who doesn’t smoke, vape, or do drugs, it can happen to anyone.”
Appalachian State University opened for its fall semester on August 17 with a mix of in-class and online learning. A post on the school’s website on September 26 said that there had been two COVID-19 clusters on campusing that amounted to 16 students being diagnosed with the virus.
Dorrill Was Described as ‘the Most Kind Person You’ll Ever Meet’
Susan asks that you speak Chad’s name in prayer.
Heavenly Father, please lay your hands on Chad. Turn this path from dark to light. Stop the swelling in his brain tonight and help him recover, fully: mind, body, and spirit. Let him live. In Jesus’s name, we pray. Amen.
The Watauga Democrat reported that Dorrill passed away on September 28 at the Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem.
One of Dorrill’s friends, Sydney Bell, paid tribute to the teenager telling the Democrat, “He’s the most selfless, most kind person you’ll ever meet. He goes out of his way to please everyone and make sure that everyone’s happy no matter what happens to him.” Bell said that Dorrill had been in hospital earlier in September but was released to go home on September 22.
Dorrill Moved to North Carolina From Wisconsin With His Family in 2013
Dorrill lived in Piedmont Triad, close to Charlotte in North Carolina. A post on the Piedmont Pacers basketball team’s Facebook page said that Dorrill had played with their organization since 2013 when his family moved to North Carolina from Wisconsin. The post described Dorrill as “quiet” and “soft-spoken” but said that he was a “fierce competitor on the basketball court whose relentless hustle and shooting prowess helped win many games for the Pacers.”
The post went on to say that Dorrill was the Pacers’ all-time leading scorer and part of their 2018 United States Specialty Sports Association championship-winning team. Dorrill was “beloved by all of his teammates” and “possessed all of the qualities that any parent would love to see in their child.” The team statement said that Dorrill’s parents, Robert and Susan, were regularly seen at Pacers games and helped the organization to forge a “family-like atmosphere.” The post finished with the words, “Our hearts go out to them and we cannot imagine the pain they are going through right now.”
Dorrill Was Studying to Become a Physical Therapist at Appalachian State University
Fox Charlotte reports that Dorrill graduated from Ledford High School in Thomasville, North Carolina, in 2019 and that he was studying to become a physical therapist at Appalachian State University.
During his time in high school, Dorrill competed in a slam dunk contest. In February 2019, The Salsbury Post’s Mike London wrote that Dorrill wasn’t “exactly a tower, but he’s an effective post player.”
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