Vaccine Drive To Honor Bolingbrook Girl, 15, Who Died Of COVID-19

BOLINGBROOK, IL — In May, 15-year-old Dykota Morgan of Bolingbrook died just two days after being diagnosed with COVID-19. To honor her memory, a vaccine drive, held by the Will County Health Department, is scheduled for Saturday, June 26.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Humphrey Middle School, 777 Falcon Ridge Way, anyone ages12 and older can schedule an appointment to get the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Those interested can schedule an appointment on the Will County Health Department's website.

A student-athlete who played basketball at Bolingbrook High School, Dykota was finishing her first year of high school after returning to school following the pandemic-caused shutdown.

"I'm so glad we made the decision to let her go back," her mom, Krystal Morgan, said in a video interview. "She needed that. All kids need that."

Dykota's parents described her as a "perfectly healthy athlete." But coronavirus didn't care. She developed a headache Saturday, May 1, and tested positive for the virus the following evening. By Tuesday, she was dead.

Though she didn't develop a fever, Dykota began to have chills that Monday, and after a few hours, she was too weak to lift her arms. That's when her parents took her to the emergency room. Over the course of the next few hours, her blood pressure continued to drop.

Dykota went into cardiac arrest around 2:05 a.m. Tuesday, May 4, right after her mom told her how proud of her she was, Morgan said in the video interview.

"She left a piece of herself with everyone she came into contact with," Morgan told Patch in May. "I'm just so proud to have raised this beautiful young lady."

Dykota died a week before the CDC and FDA approved the vaccine for children ages 12 to 17. In a video talking about their daughter, Morgan and Dakota's father, Rashad Bingham, also discussed why they believe it's important for kids to get vaccinated.

"I don't want any parent to feel this void that we have," Morgan said in the video. "Nobody should have to feel this. This is the worst feeling in the world, especially when you did everything you could to protect them."

Dykota's parents said in the video they're urging Black parents to vaccinate their children.

"You have to protect your babies at all cost," Morgan said.

About 25.31 percent of Black people living in Will County have been fully vaccinated as of June 10, compared to 33.19 percent of the county's white population, according to the Will County Health Department.

"What COVID did to [Dykota] in such a short time, it could do to any child," Bingham said in the video.