Former Olympian from North Carolina dies of COVID, family says. ‘Real-life super hero’
A man known for competing in track and field — setting long-standing records at his university and ascending to the Olympic games — has died of coronavirus in North Carolina.
Lee Vernon McNeill, a former star runner at East Carolina University, struggled to breathe after he was diagnosed with the coronavirus in late August, his family said.
“COVID is a nasty beast...,” his sister, Tasha Simpson, told McClatchy News in a phone interview. “He had a few ups and downs and then gradually he had to be ventilated.”
McNeill had been in the hospital for weeks before he died Wednesday. He was 56 years old, according to his sister.
McNeill grew up in St. Pauls, North Carolina, and attended East Carolina University, roughly 80 miles east of Raleigh. He still holds “school records in the indoor 55-meter dash and outdoor 100-meter dash,” the school’s athletics media relations department said in an email.
He was a sprinter who won gold medals in the 4 x 100 relay at both the 1987 Pan American Games and 1987 World Championships, according to the Olympic Games website.
The following year, McNeill competed in the 4 x 100 at the Olympics in Seoul. The Soviet Union’s team came out on top in the event.
Simpson said her brother was a hard worker who remained humble and dedicated his time to jobs at Amazon and Bojangles, where he spent more than 30 years.
But he didn’t forget his track roots. McNeill shared his talents with others at the Soaring Eagles Track Club in Garner, just outside of Raleigh.
“It was amazing to me, just watching him the way he worked with the kids,” Simpson said. “He’ll get down and show them what they need to do.”
Simpson said her brother smiled “all the time” and leaves behind a tight-knit family.
“He was a real-life super hero,” she told The Robesonian newspaper. “You could touch him; he made mistakes, but there’s nothing he set his mind to that he couldn’t do.”
During the pandemic, health officials have urged people to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Though McNeill hadn’t gotten his shot, his sister said he planned to get one after leaving the hospital.
His family is encouraging others to get vaccinated, Simpson said.
This story was originally published October 4, 2021 at 12:53 PM with the headline "Former Olympian from North Carolina dies of COVID, family says. ‘Real-life super hero’."
