'Super healthy' college student, 19, who played basketball and 'ran six miles without any issue' dies of rare COVID-19 complication that 'attacked his brain'

A North Carolina college sophomore who played basketball and routinely ran for miles without problems has died of rare complications caused by COVID-19.

Chad Dorrill, 19, who was enrolled at Appalachian State University in Boone, died on Monday night.

It was the first coronavirus-related student death reported by the University of North Carolina system since several campuses reopened with at least partial in-person learning last month.

Dorrill, who lived off campus in Boone and took all of his classes online, became ill with flu-like symptoms, according to The New York Times.

Chad Dorrill, 19, who was enrolled at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, died on Monday night

Dorrill died of a rare complication of COVID-19, according to his family

Those who knew him described as a selfless kid who was very likable 

His mother encouraged him to come home. On September 7, he tested positive for COVID-19. 

Dorrill quarantined in his family's home in Wallburg, North Carolina, for 10 days before returning to school.

David Dorrill, Chad's uncle, said his nephew began experiencing severe neurological problems after returning to Boone. 

'When he tried to get out of bed, his legs were not working, and my brother had to carry him to the car and take him to the emergency room,' David Dorrill said. 

'The doctor said it was a one-in-a-million case — that they’d never seen something progress the way it did. 

'It was a COVID complication that rather than attacking his respiratory system attacked his brain.'

Dorrill, who lived off campus in Boone and took all of his classes online, became ill with flu-like symptoms. He then quarantined at his family home for 10 days before returning to Boone

Dorrill was described as someone who was in excellent physical shape

Chad's death was all the more shocking given his healthy lifestyle.

'He was healthy,' his uncle told the Times.

'He was in tremendous shape. Skinny. Could run six miles without any issue. 

'He ran with us less than three weeks ago, in fact. He was healthy - until this hit.' 

Chad Dorrill was a 2019 graduate of Ledford High School, where he played guard and forward on the basketball team, according to WFMY-TV.

His high school coach, Jason Anderson, praised Dorrill as selfless and likable.

'As a coach at any level that’s the type of kid you want, not just in basketball but in life,' he said. 

'I mean he was the kind of kid that you want your own children to hang around with; he’s a good influence.'

Andersen found it difficult to accept that Dorrill was gone.

'This is a perfectly healthy 19-year-old kid that two years ago was running up and down the floor playing 30 out of 32-minute games as long as he wasn’t in foul trouble,' Anderson said.

The scoreboard at Ledford High School flashed Dorrill's uniform number as a tribute.

The University of North Carolina's public higher education system also paid homage to Dorrill. 

'Any loss of life is a tragedy, but the grief cuts especially deep as we mourn a young man who had so much life ahead,' said a statement from Peter Hans, president of the system overseeing the state's 16 public colleges and universities. 

'I ache for the profound sadness that Chad Dorrill's family is enduring right now. My heart goes out to the entire Appalachian State community.'

Appalachian State University reported a new high of 159 current COVID-19 cases among students on Tuesday.

The university reported a new high of 159 current COVID-19 cases among students on Tuesday. 

Nearly 550 students have tested positive for the virus since in-person classes resumed last month. 

Appalachian State remains open for in-person instruction.

Three North Carolina colleges, including UNC-Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University and East Carolina University, have halted physical classes for undergraduate students, after reporting a series of coronavirus outbreaks shortly after students returned to campus. 

Nearly 1,000 UNC students have tested positive for COVID-19 since classes resumed in August. 

ECU surpassed 1,000 cases earlier this month, followed shortly thereafter by NC State.

In a message to the university community on Tuesday, App State Chancellor Sheri Everts reminded college students to take the virus seriously and follow public health guidelines.

'His family's wishes are for the university to share a common call to action so our entire campus community recognizes the importance of following COVID-19 safety protocols and guidelines,' Everts wrote. 

'Despite generally being at lower risk for severe illness, college-age adults can become seriously ill from COVID-19.' 

Research published in June in the New England Journal of Medicine found that as many as 84 percent of COVID-19 patients developed neurological symptoms, such as headache, delirium, trouble with memory or attention, and burning or prickling sensation.

Another study found that about a third of patients had neurological symptoms.

Patients who died of coronavirus were found to have signs of a dangerous form of brain swelling in autopsy studies. Some of their brain cells had died off too.

Now that it's clear that coronavirus can attack the brain, scientists need to work out how it gets there, and what to do about it, both of which remain unclear.