Jerome Kunkel, an 18-year-old student at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Assumption Academy who was banned from school and his basketball team for refusing the chickenpox vaccination, now has the easily-preventable disease, a lawyer for the teen confirmed to NBC News.
Kunkel, who opposes vaccines due to his religious beliefs, reportedly understood the risk and still does not regret the decision.
"These are deeply held religious beliefs, they're sincerely held beliefs," attorney Christopher Wiest told the outlet. "From [his family's] perspective, they always recognized they were running the risk of getting it, and they were OK with it."
Kunkel sued the Northern Kentucky Health Department in March after it ruled that all students at Sacred Heart Assumption Academy who hadn't been vaccinated against chickenpox could no longer come to classes amid an outbreak of the disease, which began in February and included 32 confirmed cases.
"I don't believe in that vaccine at all and they are trying to push it on us," Kunkle's father, Bill, told WLWT.
A judge ruled against Kunkel and in favor of the Northern Kentucky Health Department in April, a decision that left the teen "devastated" and determined to appeal.