They lost their son, an App State student, to COVID-19. Now they hope to help others.
In September, 19-year-old Appalachian State University student Chad Dorill died from complications of COVID-19.
Now, his family is raising money to help high school students get a college education, a dream Dorill never got to fulfill.
The Chad Dorrill Memorial Scholarship Fund was established in memory of Dorrill, who was a “super healthy” sophomore at App State from Thomasville, North Carolina. The scholarship will be awarded to two local high school seniors each year.
As of Tuesday morning, about $1,800 had been donated to the fund.
Dorill was a high school basketball star from central North Carolina and was studying exercise science with hopes of becoming a physical therapist, according to his family. Dorrill was living off campus in Boone and taking online class this fall.
‘Positive impact’
App State faced some pressure to pivot online and close dorms after Dorill’s death and as COVID-19 cases soared into the hundreds in Boone, but the university never made that switch.
Dorrill tested positive for the coronavirus at home in Davidson County. He followed isolation procedures and was cleared by his doctor to return to Boone, where he had additional complications and was then hospitalized, Chancellor Sheri Everts said in a letter to students and faculty.
“The hearts of the entire Appalachian Community are with Chad’s family and loved ones during this profoundly difficult and painful time,” Everts said. “Tributes shared by friends and loved ones show the positive impact Chad had on the communities he loved and called home, which included App State and Boone.”
Plea from parents
When Dorrill died, his mother Susan Dorrill pleaded on social media that people wear a mask and quarantine if they test positive because “you have no idea who you can come into contact with that the virus affects differently,” The News & Observer previously reported.
The family made the same request again for college students living on and off campuses around the country when announcing the memorial fund.
“Please do not put your friends or classmates life in danger as each person can react so differently to this virus,” the family said.
