ILLINOIS (WAND) - A mother who said her son died by suicide due to the pandemic has joined a lawsuit filed against Gov. JB Pritzker.Â
Lisa Moore's son Trevor Till, who was an avid high school athlete, died in October, NBC News reports. She believes his death was a "proximate cause" of Illinois' COVID-19 restrictions, per the lawsuit, and that he would be alive today if the governor had handled the pandemic differently.Â
The suit was filed in LaSalle County Circuit Clerk in December. It's against the governor and the Illinois High School Association. In it, the governor is accused of canceling or indefinitely delaying high school sports while allowing sports to go on at the college and professional levels.Â
The lawsuit said there is "no rational or reasonable basis" for prohibiting come high school sports while allowing high levels to continue.
The IHSA responded to a request for comment regarding the lawsuit, saying it safely was able to play low and medium-risk sports in the fall. Since the suit was filed, it said many high school sports have started having practices and games.
While the governor's office did not immediately return a request for comment from NBC News, The Chicago Sun-Times reported on previous remarks Pritzker made about the lawsuit.
"Professional sports and college sports have significant resources for protecting their players," Pritzker said. "For creating social distance, for example, by having multiple locker rooms; by making sure they have plexiglass everywhere that they need to separate the players; to test them on a much more regular basis than an individual high school or district could afford. That’s why there is a difference."
Till graduated from Seneca High School in the spring of 2020, Moore said. She added he was "super involved" and was part of marching band, served as class president, had been the lead in school plays and spent time in other activities.
"Illinois is no better off than any of these other states that haven't closed or that have been allowing activities," she said. "And these poor kids, they’re way down the line for when they’re going to get a Covid shot. So they're not supposed to do anything until two years from now or a year and a half from now?"
She said Till saw his senior year turned on its head when high school sports were halted. This stopped him from being part of what he loved and required him to take classes online. He then graduated and went to the University of Illinois, where he was met with isolation and had to attend classes via Zoom. College activities couldn't be attended because they were canceled, and Moore said her son did not have a roommate.
"It breaks my heart that he sat in his dorm room alone so much," she said.
She talked with Till a few days before his Oct. 21 death and made plans with him for Thanksgiving. She said she knew he was struggling with isolation but did not know the severity of it.Â
Three of the other parents who are part of the suit said their children have had issues with depression because the cancellation or delay of classes and sports caused them to miss out on their high school senior year. Another parent claimed her two kids couldn't be seen by recruiters and did not get college scholarships as a result.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached by calling 800-273-8255. For more resources, text TALK to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.
