15-year-old dies of COVID-19 just 2 days after diagnosis

BOLINGBROOK, Illinois -- Dykota Morgan's parents can't believe they're talking about their daughter in the past tense. They keep thinking she's still here, because she should be.

The 15-year-old, whose parents said she had no underlying medical conditions, died just days after she was diagnosed with COVID-19.

They got the positive test results Sunday.

"She asked me why this happened to her, what did she do to deserve this?" said Krystal Morgan, her mother. "I told her, 'You didn't do anything to deserve this. I don't know why this happened to you, but you didn't do anything to deserve this.'"

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By Monday evening, Krystal said it was clear her daughter needed a doctor. At a local hospital, doctors told the family Dykota's previously healthy 15-year-old body started failing, quickly.

"Around midnight, we have to helicopter to Lurie Children's Hospital because we're not equipped to handle the level of care she needs," Krystal recalled.

But the teen never made it to the hospital.

"They told us to come in and say goodbye just until she made it to Lurie's hospital, and tell her we loved her," she said. "I thought it was just goodbye until I drove to the hospital. I didn't think it was goodbye forever."

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"'If you're tired, baby girl, just go home. If you're tired, go,'" her father Rashad Bingham, recalls telling her. "Soon after, it was all over."

Dykota's parents, her family, and her beloved basketball teams won't ever be the same without her.

"Everyone is feeling joy to get back to some type of normalcy, but this week I'll remember the rest of my life, and I don't want this to happen to anyone," said Suzanne Wagner, basketball coach.

Her parents said the family took every COVID-19 precaution possible, and are encouraging other parents to get their children vaccinated as soon as possible.

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"I do regret not getting the vaccine earlier. I wouldn't want to go through what I'm going through right now, and any step towards ending this virus is a good step."