Thousands of people in the U.K. have reported suffering serious adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccine Injured and Bereaved U.K. (VIBUK) is a group of individuals injured or bereaved by the Covid vaccines (with medical or coroners’ reports confirming this) campaigning for a change to the current Government vaccine damage payment scheme (VDPS) to create a bespoke COVID-19 compensation scheme that ensures the adversely affected are appropriately compensated and supported. They also want people similarly affected by the vaccines to know that help is available and for their stories to be heard and not ignored. This is Adrian’s story as told by VIBUK and reprinted here. VIBUK can be found on Twitter and contacted here.
VIBUK member Adrian Walker, a married father of two and a grandad from Grantham, was a very fit, healthy and active 47-year-old man. He was looking forward to life returning to some normality following COVID-19 and the lockdowns. Now that a COVID-19 vaccine had been authorised and had been hailed as ‘safe and effective’, life was looking good and finally Adrian’s active lifestyle could return to normal. He had been a sub-four-hour marathon runner, his park-run (5km) personal best was 21 minutes and six seconds and he was a former semiprofessional football referee. He was also a run leader for Grantham running club where he would lead groups of runners, help with training plans and motivate people to start and complete ‘Couch to 5K’ courses who would then often ask about running further. He would then help to deliver a course within the club called ’10 Weeks to 10K’. He was well known in the local community for his hard work and dedication.
Adrian was a self-employed taxi driver and courier. He would transport vulnerable children to and from specialised schools. All the staff were to be offered their vaccines earlier than the rest of their age group and when his turn came Adrian took up the offer; this turned out to be the biggest mistake of his life.
When Adrian had his AstraZeneca vaccine he was not worried about catching Covid himself: he was very fit and healthy, a non-smoker with no previous health issues. He only had his vaccine because the Government were constantly saying: ‘Stop the spread, protect others.’
Adrian had his AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on February 16th 2021 (batch number AB0012).
Soon after the vaccination, Adrian started to feel flu-like symptoms, but he was not overly concerned as these symptoms seemed to be what people were saying were normal. He gradually got worse, but put it down to the time of the year. Then his body started to ache all over, he was very weak and started to develop chest pains. His symptoms worsened and 13 days after the injection Adrian was admitted to Lincoln hospital on March 1st 2021, where he remained for 34 days. Initial blood tests revealed critical results. His platelet levels had dropped low and his D-dimer levels soared. Scans then revealed multiple clots in his lungs and the portal vein from his bowel. Initially doctors were very sceptical that a vaccine we were all urged to take could lead to him being in a potentially life-threatening condition. At this point he was oblivious to how severely ill he was; he just thought that the doctors would soon make him better and he would be home in no time at all.
During his time in hospital he was eventually diagnosed with vaccine induced immune thrombosis thrombocytopenia (VITT), a newly identified condition not known before the COVID-19 vaccine. In early 2021, the first reports of an adverse event of concurrent thrombosis (blood clots) and thrombocytopenia (low platelet count) following the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid vaccination were reported. This new syndrome was named vaccine induced Immune thrombosis and thrombocytopenia (VITT).
Patients with VITT produce anti-platelet factor 4 (PF4) antibodies following vaccination. The antibodies cause activation of the platelets and the blood clotting system, leading to clots (thrombosis) forming in the blood vessels and a low platelet count as the platelets are used up in the process.
VITT causes aggressive blood clots to form in the blood vessels in different parts of the body including the brain, liver, gut, heart, legs, lungs and kidneys and is considered a medical emergency that can be fatal, even if treated appropriately. If suspected, VITT needs urgent medical attention.
VITT is associated with the COVID-19 vaccines, in particular the Oxford AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccines which both use an adenovirus vector platform (instead of mRNA like Pfizer and Moderna).
Currently there are no clear risk factors to identify those who may be at increased risk of the condition. It affects women and men to a similar extent and can affect people of all ages, although the average age is said to be 49. It is reported there are an estimated 436 cases of VITT in the U.K.; sadly, 76 of those cases were fatal. There are no long term data for people suffering from VITT so the long term side-effects are still unclear. The U.K. has since decided to cease buying new supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine, with the reasons given being concerns about efficacy, safety and how public opinion perceives it. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine (not used in the U.K.) has been restricted in the U.S. and elsewhere due to the risk of blood clots.
As Adrian was one of the very first with this condition, doctors were brutally honest with him. They did not know how to treat him and said it could be a case of trial and error. With Adrian’s inner strength and his fight to survive, he told the doctors: “If you have to treat me like a guineapig to keep me alive, then do it. I don’t care if I am screaming in agony, if you can find a way of starting to make me better then you could potentially save the lives of others. I am sure that I will not be the only case, do whatever you have to do.”
He was fed through a tube because of the blood clot in the portal vein from his bowel. A full removal of the bowel was considered. On March 8th 2021 Adrian’s wife was called to the hospital and was told that he might not make it through the night. Thankfully he survived. His haematologist told him that one of the main reasons that he survived was because he was previously so fit and healthy. He said that the amount of medication that was required to keep him alive would have killed most people.
Due to the medication he was on, he was now suffering from insomnia. Most days he was awake for over 22 hours of the day. If he did manage to nod off he would normally be woken up by the nurses for a change of one of his drips or for yet another blood test.
Due to COVID-19, no visitors were allowed in the hospital unless end of life was expected. Adrian had some very long, dark days in hospital. Thankfully the staff on the Waddington ward helped to keep the spirits of Adrian and his fellow patients up. Thirty-four days is a very long time away from your family, especially when you’re fighting for your life with a condition no one is sure is being treated correctly.
The time had come on April 4th for Adrian to be discharged. This was a huge relief to Adrian and his family, thinking he had been treated and cured and was now on the road to recovery. He was looking forward to getting home and moving on with his life. Unfortunately, at that point it was unknown that the side-effects of VITT were about to play a big part in Adrian’s life. Adrian is now suffering with chronic fatigue, aching joints, problems with his balance, brain fog, and short term memory loss and breathlessness. His breathlessness is being looked at by the hospital respiratory team. They suspect that the clots that were in his lungs may have left him with a condition called pulmonary hypertension. If he is diagnosed with this, there is no cure. Depending on the severity of pulmonary hypertension, there is medication that can help to alleviate the condition. He may even require a lung transplant. His life expectancy will be drastically shortened whatever the outcome of the tests. Adrian now has to attend regular hospital appointments. His blood tests still show that he is positive for the PF4 antibodies, he will also have to spend the rest of his life on anticoagulants (blood thinners).
Now he cannot live independently. He is dependent on his family just to live on a daily basis. He is breathless every day; even getting dressed leaves him breathless and he has to sit down to get his breath back before he can do anything else. He cannot walk normally and shuffles along like an old man because his legs feel so weak and his joints ache constantly; he cannot walk with a normal stride pattern. People stare at him thinking that he is permanently drunk. He really wants to stop and tell them not to stare: “I’m not drunk I am vaccine injured, none of this is my fault.” Many days, he does not bathe or shower because he is too exhausted. He feels like he just exists, he no longer lives; his life as he knew it has been taken away from him. For doing the right thing.
Adrian and his family can no longer go on a normal family day out. On a good day he cannot walk more than a couple of hundred yards; some days he cannot even walk 50 yards. He cannot walk and talk at the same time. He has bought a wheelchair and a mobility scooter so that they can try and have a family day out. He is constantly exhausted physically and mentally. Sadly, some days Adrian wishes that he had not survived, he doesn’t want to live the rest of his life like this.
Adrian and his family have been affected physically, mentally and financially, and there is a real possibility that they could lose their home at some point in the future. He has not been able to work since February 26th 2021 and is now at a point where he is starting to think he may never be well enough to work again.
He applied to the Government’s vaccine damage payment scheme in July 2021 and has just reached the final stages of his claim, where he will find out if his claim has been successful. No time frame is offered in the making of this decision; he is not expecting to get a decision before 2023.
The vaccine damage scheme is not a new scheme; it was set up in 1979. When Adrian applied he was told that claims would usually take six months but due to the COVID-19 vaccines being new he should expect his claim to take longer than normal. Fifteen months later and he can’t help but think that this antiquated scheme is not fit for purpose.
Adrian did the the ‘right thing’ – he had his AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination for the good of the nation. Now he and his family have had their lives flipped upside down. The Government should be looking after people who have been severely adversely affected by the COVID-19 vaccine, so that they can live without worrying about how to pay their mortgage and household bills. Instead, the Government and most of the media continue to ignore people like Adrian. Vaccine injuries like this is exactly what the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) was designed for. Unfortunately, actually receiving an award from the VDPS is a whole different story and one that adds no end of stress and trauma to an already traumatic ordeal. Like all of us at VIBUK, Adrian is not ‘anti-vaccine’; he realises that he is one of the many ‘unlucky’ ones. But he should be looked after physically, mentally and financially and compensated accordingly.
Adrian has been fortunate to appear on the Mark Steyn show on GB News.
He also joined Mark for the one-hour vaccine injury special show for VIBUK on GB News, where Neil Oliver, Dan Wootton, Michelle Dewberry and Sir Christopher Chope MP welcomed members of VIBUK to tell their stories.
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