20-year-old Penn State student dies from COVID-19-related complications. Here’s what we know
A 20-year-old Penn State student has died after a months-long battle with COVID-19, succumbing over the weekend to complications from the coronavirus, according to his family on social media.
Neil Patel, a sixth-semester Smeal undergraduate student and Schreyer Honors Scholar, had wanted to get vaccinated, his parents wrote. But one day before his appointment, he developed symptoms. And, by mid-April, he was on a ventilator inside Philadelphia’s Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.
His father, Chetan, wrote Friday on a GoFundMe blog that, “To say the the past few weeks and months have been a living hell would be an understatement.” He then wrote Sunday that his son had died. “The brightest light in our life has moved on from my and Hema’s (Patel’s mother) life and I don’t know how we will fill the emptiness.”
In an email, a Penn State spokesperson told the CDT that counseling is available for anyone in need by calling Counseling & Psychological Services at 814-863-0395. The 24-hour Penn State Crisis Line is 1-877-229-6400.
“The university community shares our deepest condolences with Neil Patel’s friends and family during this difficult time,” spokesperson Rachel Pell wrote. “Penn State Student Affairs is in touch with his family and is offering support to those we know have been impacted.”
Patel is the second known Penn State student who is believed to have died from COVID-19 complications. The first was Juan Garcia, a 21-year-old student from Allentown who died last summer.
The official cause of Patel’s death was not yet made public as neither Penn Presbyterian Medical Center nor the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office immediately returned messages from the CDT. A family representative also did not immediately return a message.
But, on social media, Patel’s family and friends remembered him as someone who put others before himself. He was known as a musician and talented drama student, someone who traveled extensively and wasn’t afraid to work.
His parents said in an earlier blog post they believe he contracted the coronavirus while working at a frontline job. The student from Upper Merion Township, just outside of Philadelphia, was learning remotely in the spring.
According to the family’s social media posts, updated on Facebook and GoFundMe, Patel suffered severe complications in the early stages of his COVID infection and eventually needed to have his arm amputated. On July 18, he was still listening to his music playlists — jamming to songs like Elton John’s “I’m still standing” — but, after suffering more setbacks, by July 29, his family intimated doctors wanted to discuss ending life-sustaining treatment. His father opposed the idea.
Details regarding memorial services have not yet been made public.
Penn State will hold a virtual town hall on its COVID-19 response at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
This story was originally published August 2, 2021 at 6:13 PM.
