WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - Many of the unvaccinated hope the odds are in their favor, and if they do catch COVID-19, they won’t get that sick. That was the case with Tyler Gilreath, a 20-year-old UNCW student who died Tuesday morning due to complications he suffered after contracting the virus in mid-August.

“I cajoled, encouraged, threatened, and nagged for him to get vaccinated,” Tyler’s mother, Tamra Demello, told WECT. “I did everything I could possibly think. I think he did some research where he was thinking that it was going to hurt his heart long-term or something… I’m not even sure where he was getting his information which is super frustrating. Sometimes, I felt like the harder I pushed the more — he basically said to me, ‘mom, leave me alone. I can take care of myself.’”

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