BY GREGORY CHILDRESS
gchildress@heraldsun.com; 419-6645
CHAPEL HILL -- Family and friends continued Thursday to grieve the loss of Lillian Chason, the UNC freshman who died Wednesday after being hospitalized for nearly a month with the H1N1 virus.
She was 18.
Chason, who hailed from Rhode Island, was on a life support, but doctors determined that the ECMO machine could no longer keep her alive.
Chason's father, Eric Chason, notified the nearly 10,000 supporters following the dramatic art major's ordeal on a Facebook page titled "Prayers for Lillian," which he started last month.
"I'm sorry to have to tell everyone that Lillian died this afternoon [Wednesday] at 5:20 p.m.," he wrote Wednesday night.
He said his daughter put up a valiant fight.
"As you all know, she put up an incredible fight, and if there was any way she could have overcome this disease, she would have," Eric Chason said. "We want to say thanks again to the wonderful people at the UNC hospital who have been and remain incredibly supportive."
He added: "And thank you all for all your prayers and kind thoughts -- it was an incredible comfort during this long difficult journey."
UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp said the university's thoughts and prayers are with Chason's parents, the Chason family and their friends.
"We are so sorry for their loss," Thorp said. "Lillian was a special person, and her Carolina family will miss her."
Lillian Chason's death came one day after students held a blood drive to replace the large quantity of blood used in efforts to save her life.
The organizer of the blood drive, Zealan Hoover, a freshman from San Diego, was too distraught to talk about his friend's death when reached by phone Thursday.
Meanwhile, Dillon Rice, a member of the cast of "A New Dress for Mona," a university play in which Lillian Chason had won the starting role, said cast members gathered at drama professor Mark Perry's home Wednesday night after hearing about Lillian Chason's death.
"Talking with people who are close to you is a useful thing," Rice said.
Rice said Lillian Chason's name will appear in the program when the play is staged early next year.
"We're trying to do the best we can," Rice said. "It's really hard. Our thoughts are with her family. I just can't imagine."
Those who followed Lillian Chason's ordeal on the "Prayers for Lillian" Facebook page, began sending their condolences to the family immediately upon learning that she had died
"The story of your daughter has put a lot of things ... into perspective and even though she was part of the UNC community for only a short while, she will be a tarheel forever," wrote UNC student Rachel Norman. "Our whole community is saddened to lose her and I know we will continue to think of her in the future. Your community is always, always here for you."
