Bodybuilder With Presumed “Mild Illness” Refused the Vaccine, but Died of COVID-19
42-year-old John Eyers, a fit and healthy man tested positive for coronavirus a month ago and, last week, passed away in hospital after succumbing to the virus.
The former bodybuilder, who had been climbing in the Welsh mountains before testing positive, had refused the COVID-19 vaccine as he believed he would only suffer a "mild illness" if he were to catch the respiratory virus.
His twin sister Jenny McCann described him as "fittest, healthiest person I know"
"The only pre-existing health condition he had was the belief in his own immortality,” she shared in a Tweet. "He thought if he contracted Covid-19 he would be OK. He thought he would have a mild illness. He didn’t want to put a vaccine in his body."
McCann went on to share that her brother confessed to the doctor how "he wished he had been vaccinated."
"He was pumped full of every drug in the hospital," she said. "They threw everything at him. But eventually the bedfellow of Covid-19, infection and organ failure, claimed his life. His death is a tragedy. It shouldn’t have happened."
According to new data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), around four per cent of the UK's adult population are vaccine hesitant.
Similarly, scientific institutions at the British Academy and the Royal Society found that 36 per cent of people in Britain are either uncertain or very unlikely to agree to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
“Vaccines and vaccination are two very different things. To achieve the estimated 80% of uptake of a vaccine required for community protection, we need a serious, well-funded and community-based public engagement strategy,” said Melinda Mills, an Oxford University professor, who led the British Academy and the Royal Society report. "We must learn from lessons of history and move away from the one-way provision of information and instead generate an open dialogue that addresses misinformation and does not dismiss people’s real vaccine concerns and hesitancy."
Eyers' death has resonated with people across the internet, with many replying to his sister's Tweet:
I can ratify this. I'm a marathoner and a power lifter, and I too had this belief that Covid can't do anything to me.
The 2 days after I contracted were the worst days of my life. Luckily I immediately sought help, and we bought the symptoms under control by Day 4.— Saurav (@IngGooner) August 3, 2021
Sorry for your loss, this is truly awful. Im devastated for you and your family. As a 34 yr old, previously very fit and active with no pre-existing cond. I was lucky to have mild illness March ‘20 with no vaccine available. I am alive, though I am still not 100% nearly 18m… 1/2
— Steven Whittaker (@KeeperSteve) August 3, 2021
We lost 2 family in January. Before vaccines. 57 & 39. Unbelievable Neither knew they had it, not sick enough to get an ambulance.
— Kristine Taylor (@Kristin11277193) August 3, 2021
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