John O’Neill was a fit and healthy 42-year-old IT consultant who loved playing football and spending time with his young family when he received the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in May 2021.
But after a severe reaction to AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine, which protected millions of others who took it safely, he was forced to stop work and can only walk a few meters without interruption. “That changed everything,” he says, bursting into tears.
As an asthmatic, he was at greater risk of a blood clot if he contracted Covid, so he was careful during lockdown.
There have been reports of rare cases of serious clotting-related side effects in people who have been vaccinated, but John decided that the greater risk was exposure to the virus. His wife Vicki was under 40 at the time and was offered the Pfizer/Moderna vaccine instead.
“I went with him to the vaccination center when he picked her up and he told me in the car that the kids would have at least one of us if anything happened,” Vicki said. “I just laughed at it and told him not to be so stupid.”
John, like many people, developed flu-like symptoms the day after the shot, but then felt fine. However, nine days after the shot, his health deteriorated. He began to feel sick, his left eye was very sore, and he could not even eat a sandwich because of the pain in his jaw.
Vicki dialed 999 and the first responder arrived. After observing and judging John, their first thought was that he was having a stroke or a heart attack. He was taken to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex, where the couple lived. Upon arrival at the hospital, the doctors examined him and found that he had a migraine. They kept him up all night and gave him morphine for the pain. Vicky was unable to attend due to Covid lockdown rules.
But that night, John suffered a massive stroke and was taken to the Royal London Hospital for life-saving surgery.
“I arrived at the hospital with John’s mother just as he was about to leave. John didn’t answer. We were told that John might not survive because his left carotid artery was completely severed and a blood clot formed in his brain.
He spent weeks in intensive care, overcoming several setbacks, and was sent back to Broomfield in August, where he learned to walk and learned to use his arm again. He was taken to Homerton Hospital in Hackney, London for several weeks of rehabilitation before finally returning home in September.
The stroke resulted in extensive brain damage and he was diagnosed with aphasia – difficulty speaking – and apraxia, which means he understands and knows what he wants to say but has difficulty saying it out loud.
He was paralyzed throughout the right side of his body, a blood clot in the optic nerve was affecting vision in his left eye, he only had one artery working on the right side of his neck as the left side was completely blocked, and he had a blocked artery in his left leg reducing blood flow. and no active pulse in the left leg.
He has been formally diagnosed with vaccine-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT) and has now joined a class-action lawsuit against AstraZeneca for injuries sustained from his vaccine-induced clots.
John needs physical therapy on a daily basis, but the National Health Service can only provide a limited amount of funds, or the family can pay for it privately due to the financial implications of the situation. This affected John’s heart, he also became very forgetful, he has a tremor in his right arm and leg, although doctors are now checking to see if he has mild cramps. His medical team just doesn’t know what the future holds for him, given how recently he’s been diagnosed.
“Because the AstraZeneca antibodies are still in his system, there is a chance that he could clot again at any time. Blood thinners actually support it,” Vicki said.
“We know that every pill you take or every injection you give can have side effects, but you don’t really think about it. You just think you need a vaccine to get back to normal, which we will never have.”
When asked how the trauma has affected his life and relationship with his children, son Mason, now 6, and Freya, 11, John breaks down. “It changed everything.”
Vicki said: “John had his own business, he was always in control. Now everything has been taken from him. He can only walk about 20 meters before he has to sit down because he has no blood flow to his leg. It is difficult for him to communicate in a group of people because he finds it difficult to concentrate and be involved.
“Yana was the main breadwinner. Now there is no income. What are you doing? Since that day, everything has changed. The relationship between John and the kids, especially Mason, is very difficult because he can’t always speak his mind. It can be hot and annoying. dad is different We all have a guide. This is very difficult for Freya, because she was a dad and they did a lot together. Now she says, “Dad’s gone,” now it’s a different version of dad. It’s very hard for everyone. In the end, it changed our lives.”
The couple want justice and compensation for what they had to endure. “We want someone to say, ‘Sorry, this is our fault, we did this to you and you deserve to be compensated,'” Vicki said.
John said, “AstraZeneca… the government… anyone. There is just someone to apologize to.”
Vicky said the couple were thankful that vaccines were offered at the time, but now they feel “cornered” and the government didn’t educate people enough about the risks.
“We were only told that vaccination was the best option. But we didn’t really have much of a choice, if you wanted to go somewhere on holiday, you definitely needed to get vaccinated. We just wanted to get back to normal. So we came to an agreement.
“Yang has lived a good life. We have a nice house, but now we can’t afford it. I am John’s guardian and we have two children to take care of. It’s really difficult. At least we are not alone and there is a group of us going through the same thing, some of whom have lost loved ones. Hope we get somewhere. We’ll see.”
John’s sister created the Just Giving page to help him get well: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/johnsvittjourney.
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.