Flossmoor Resident Dies Of COVID-19 After Being Fully Vaccinated

FLOSSMOOR, IL — A Flossmoor resident who received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine has died from the virus. He was 75-years-old.

Alan David Sporn caught the virus after going out to dinner for the first time in months, according to his family. Laurie Sporn, his daughter, told Patch that her father was battling leukemia at the time of his death, which weakened his immune system and caused him to produce fewer antibodies after receiving the vaccine.

Sporn died on the morning of March 29, after contracting what the Illinois Department of Public Health calls a "breakthrough" COVID-19 case.

A breakthrough case is defined by the IDPH as a person who tests positive for the virus more than 14 days after receiving their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Health officials say that even though most breakthrough cases are mild or asymptomatic, at least 97 fully-vaccinated people have been hospitalized and 32 have died in Illinois.

Approximately 4 million Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated as of Thursday, making the vaccines more than 99.99 percent effective in the real world.

Laurie said that Sporn was taken to the hospital when he was diagnosed, but was sent home. After going to another hospital, a doctor who was not assigned to Sporn told his family that he only had a small amount of antibodies in his system.

"[The doctor] said, 'your dad has no antibodies, he has nothing to fight this with,'" Laurie said. "At this point, he had gotten his second vaccine, and his antibody numbers should have been in the hundreds or low thousands. He only had 18."

Laurie said that although the vaccine didn't fully work for her father, the family still encourages people to get vaccinated.

"The biggest thing that we as a family want people to know is that vaccines are not 100 percent," Laurie said."[Everyone] just needs to be careful. We're not anti-vaccine at all, [in fact] we think people should be vaccinated. But we were never, ever, ever told that the next vaccine might not work."

State health officials said the possible breakthrough infections are one reason mask wearing and social distancing indoors are still recommended even after being fully vaccinated.

RELATED: IL To 'Adjust' Mask Mandate After CDC Issues New Outdoor Guidance

Sporn attended Bradley University and earned his MBA at DePaul. He married his wife Barbara in 1969, and they had 4 children. After briefly working in the banking industry, he joined his father, Walter, at Spornette International in the early 1970s.

In 1985, Sporn became the owner and president of Spornette International — which has been located in Homewood for over 50 years — and the business flourished, becoming one of the top hairbrush companies in the professional beauty industry. He worked alongside his children, including his daughter Laurie, to promote his company, and over the course of his life, he traveled to all seven continents and over 50 countries.

Sporn was born on Oct. 15, 1945. He was preceded in death by his wife of 48 years, Barbara, and is survived by his children, Laurie (Arlyn Tratt), Bonnie (Benjy Fine), Gary (Sara Berkowitz), and Jeffrey.

Sporn's love for his family was the most important thing in his life, his daughter said. There were phone calls each and every day to his children and grandchildren, and weekends were spent spoiling his loved ones.

"He was the most wonderful person, and he has friends around the world," Laurie said. "We're miserable. My brother and I worked with our dad, so we're used to seeing him every day. That's challenging [for us]."

Sporn was buried March 31. As a way to honor his life, the family asked readers to do something nice for someone, or reach out to an old friend.