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Marc Ayers - Tumultuous 2020

Marc Ayers, Illinois state director of the Humane Society, details the experience of losing his mother to COVID-19 in the summer of 2021. A longtime sufferer of rheumatoid arthritis, Ayers' mother, Candace, was taking an immunosuppressant medication to keep her symptoms at bay. When the pandemic began in Illinois in March of 2020, the Ayers family took heavy precautions to limit exposure to the disease. Ayers outlines when Candace became sick and the stages of her rapid decline in the hospital, which led to her being put on a ventilator and eventually passing. Ayers also talks in detail about the obituary his sister wrote and the international attention it received, both positive and negative.

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Trip to Mississippi.

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Photos

Caption: Candace and Terry Ayers pose with their daughter, Amanda, on her first birthday in 1984 in their Springfield, Illinois, home.

Where: Springfield, Illinois

When: 1984

Ownership: Narrator’s photo.

Caption: Terry and Candace Ayers stand together in their Springfield, Illinois, home in 1987.

Where: Springfield, Illinois

When: 1987

Ownership: Narrator’s photo.

Caption: Candace Ayers poses next to a large teddy bear with her children, Marc and Amanda at White Oaks Mall in Springfield, Illinois, in 1988.

Where: White Oaks Mall, Springfield, Illinois

When: 1988

Ownership: Narrator’s photo

Caption: Candace Ayers (right) stands with her mother, Beverly Kruger, in a Taylorville, Illinois, church in 1996.

Where: Taylorville, Illinois

When: 1996

Ownership: Narrator’s photo

Caption: Candace and Terry Ayers pose together at Candace’s mother’s home in Pawnee, Illinois, in 2002.

Where: Pawnee, Illinois

When: 2002

Ownership: Narrator’s photo

Caption: Candace Ayers poses next to the ocean, with a cruise ship in in the background while visiting Cozumel, Mexico, in 2003.

Where: Cozumel, Mexico

When: 2003

Ownership: Narrator’s photo

Caption: Candace Ayers sits on a ship during a Cozumel-Cancun vacation in 2003.

Where: Cozumel, Mexico

When: 2003

Ownership: Narrator’s photo

Caption: Candace and Amanda Ayers stand in front of the Christmas tree in their Springfield family home in 2003.

Where: Springfield, Illinois

When: 2003

Ownership: Narrator’s photo

Caption: Terry and Candace Ayers enjoying Washington Park in Springfield, Illinois, in the summer of 2012.

Where: Washington Park, Springfield, Illinois

When: Summer, 2012

Ownership: Narrator’s photo

Caption: Candace Ayers and her granddaughter, Charlotte, enjoying their time together at White Oaks Mall in 2017.

Where: White Oaks Mall, Springfield, Illinois

When: 2017

Ownership: Narrator’s photo

Caption: Candace and Amanda Ayers pose together at the family home in Springfield, Illinois, in 2019.

Where: Springfield, Illinois

When: 2019

Ownership: Narrator’s photo

Caption: Candace Ayers in the spring of 2021 on a trip to Henson Robinson Zoo with her triplet grandchildren: Charlotte, Andi, and Daniel.

Where: Henson Robinson Zoo, Springfield, Illinois

When: 2021

Ownership: Narrator’s photo

Caption: The Ayers family took a family portrait outside of Homeplate Restaurant in June of 2021.

Where: Springfield, Illinois

When: June 2021

Ownership: Narrator’s photo

Caption: Candace and Amanda Ayers at Homeplate Restaurant in Springfield, Illinois, in June of 2021.

Where: Springfield, Illinois

When: June 2021

Ownership: Narrator’s photo



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