The Dykota Morgan Story

Will County Illinois is the 5th most populated county in the state of Illinois with over 700,000 residents. The FOURCE Group engaged with the Will County Health Department to create a strategic communications and marketing plan for the roll out of the COVID-19 Vaccine. As part of the overall campaign, The FOURCE Group produced a series of video advertisements including the Dykota Morgan’s Life Mattered television and digital ad. The compelling spot featured the parents of Dykota Morgan, a 15 year-old Bolingbrook teen who lost her life to COVID-19, to encourage African American parents to get themselves and their children age 12 and older vaccinated. Dykota Morgan was a healthy student athlete at Bolingbrook High School when she began showing symptoms of COVID-19 on Saturday, May 1st. She tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, May 2nd and rapidly declined leading to her tragic death on May 4th at Central DuPage Hospital. Dykota passed away one week before the CDC and FDA approved children age 12 and older to receive the COVID-19 Pfizer Vaccine. Ironically, her mother had pre-registered Dykota to receive the vaccine in anticipation of the approval. At the launch of the ad campaign, only 25.31% of African Americans living in Will County have been fully vaccinated, within two weeks of the launch, that number had increased to over 32%. The ad featured highlights of a 3 hour one on one interview with the parents and historical images of Dykota. It received over 10,000 comments on social media and was featured on Good Morning America for it’s compelling straightforward approach.