A young man says his life has been "ruined" by a single dose of a covid vaccine.
Michael*, 24, used to go to the gym most days, ate healthily, and enjoyed an active social life. But, he says, just weeks after having a covid vaccination he “went from very healthy, to all of a sudden, doing nothing”.
After completing a degree in biomedical engineering, Michael spent nearly a year working in retail before he found his dream job. Just three months into his new role as a medical technician, he had to make a snap decision.
“They gave people one week to get a jab or go jobless”, he says, referring to then-NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s requirement for essential workers from specific areas to get vaccinated to travel elsewhere for work.
With his biomedical background, Michael knew that the mRNA-based covid injections used a new genetic approach to vaccination, and he did not want to have one. He also knew there was a risk of inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis), although his GP reassured him there would be only a “one in a million” chance of this happening.
But Michael loved his job. So, he booked an appointment to have the injection on the last day before the mandate was to take effect, hoping that either his parents or his employer would grant him a reprieve. “I had my finger on the cancel button”, he says. Sadly, there was no reprieve.
A few days after the injection, he began to experience palpitations and mild chest pain. He had a phone consultation with his GP, who ordered heart function tests. “My doctor, after I got all of the results, told me that it [was] a psychological problem”, Michael says.
Two weeks later, Michael was getting “a lot of palpitations” so his GP referred him to a cardiologist, who did an echocardiogram. He showed Michael the scan, saying there was fluid on the heart, and diagnosed covid vaccine-induced pericarditis.
Now, more than a year later, Michael is still under that cardiologist’s care. His health tends to improve gradually but then he will have a setback. When this happens, he feels a continuous stabbing pain in his chest, which he rates as 8 out of 10. This can last for a week.
“My health gets better, better, better … worse; better, better, better … worse and it’s been like that this entire experience,” he says. “I would get a lot of palpitations just getting out of my chair and going to the fridge”.
Michael can still work, but he must now ask others to lift the medical machines he needs to service. And he is rarely well enough to face the walks down long hospital corridors needed when visiting a client.
Unfortunately, his cardiologist says he doesn’t know what Michael’s future holds. “Whilst they’ve treated pericarditis before, they haven’t treated it from this source,” Michael says. “I have a sneaky suspicion that it’s going to be with me for a while. I do feel it has ruined my life, to a point”.
While it wasn’t so bad missing out on activities when everyone was locked-down, Michael found it hard when “Freedom Day” dawned, and he was too unwell to go out. Fighting the mental battle of adjusting to what has happened to him, has been as hard as coping with the physical aspects, he says.
“There have been many occasions where I would go to sleep afraid of not waking up the next day. At my worst point, I began to write messages to a few of my friends in the middle of the night because I was terrified I wouldn’t get the chance again. The physical symptoms have this strange impact that, I guess because it’s the heart, really send the fear parts of the brain going crazy”.
He’s reluctant to talk to friends and work colleagues about his injury for fear of how people will react. He feels as if he’s somehow an embarrassment. Some people have even asked him: “Are you sure it was caused by the vaccine?”
“I think people need to be more receptive to the idea that these vaccines are hurting people”, he says. In fact, his dearest wish is that there should be open discussion about covid vaccine injuries. He’s worried that by pretending there are no problems, research into treatments is being delayed. In fact, he fears, such research has not even begun.
“I would like to think that more research would go into helping people like me.” With so many people vaccinated, he thinks there must be many in need of such help. Indeed, information he has found since being injured suggests the chance of heart damage was far higher than the “one in a million” he was quoted.
When asked how he feels about the government encouraging booster shots, he replies: “I think furious is an understatement”.
“People are hurting. These vaccines, as much as they promote them to be a wonder-drug, they’re not”.
While he agrees with calls for government accountability and compensation for victims, Michael asks, “…how do you, like, punish someone who’s responsible for so much pain and suffering, and in some places, death?”.
Sadly, Michael must temper his desire to warn others with his need to conserve energy for his recovery. “One half of me thinks the more people who know the better, but the other half thinks, maybe get better first”.
In telling his story here, Michael has one message he hopes will resonate: “As long as people realise … we’re not just numbers …it’s actually people being injured”.
A short version of Michael's story was published in the Let's Talk Berowra newsletter in November 2022.
*Michael asked us not to use his real name. He is concerned that he may lose his job for speaking out.
Thank you for sharing your story *Michael. We believe you! I am so sorry you’re facing this uncertainty in your life.
You are not alone!
I can see in my own circle of friends, that I have no credibility in speaking up about the truth of actual people being injured as I was very vocal in the beginning about not being immunised. However, the more people like you, who are bravely sharing your own stories, the more my friends are beginning to join the dots. Thank you for being brave and I pray that you will continue to see improvements in your recovery.
Thanks for this work you're doing to help people share their experiences. In addition to the tragedy of damage to health, is the tragedy that Michael feels he can't talk to friends or work colleagues. What opportunity is there to bring injured people together, to validate their lives and experiences, and really find out what help they need and who in their workplace or community should be held to account for imposing such mandate without a legally compliant risk assessment, and then discriminating against them? How otherwise does everyone get to learn from these experiences?