SPRINGFIELD, Illinois — A fully vaccinated Illinois family is using their mother’s obituary to urge people to get vaccinated.
Candace Ayers got her coronavirus vaccination in early March. Less than six months later, the family says she died of COVID-19.
Her son Marc said she got infected when she and his father traveled to Mississippi for a July getaway.
The family says the 66-year-old, who had severe rheumatoid arthritis, died of COVID on Sept. 3.
After the details of her death, the obituary reads:
“She was preceded in death by more than 4,531,799 others infected with COVID-19. She was vaccinated but was infected by others who chose not to be. The cost was her life.”
Marc said his mother was in a state with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation and if people had been vaccinated and wearing a mask, she would be alive today.
He says the majority of the feedback on the obituary has been positive and people have said they are getting vaccinated because of it.
Ayers is survived by her husband, Terry, of nearly 43 years, her children Marc and Amanda as well her five grandchildren.
