A co-worker of mine here in California told me about a friend of his, Dave, who never got the COVID shot but, in late December 2021, got COVID. In his early 50s, remarkably fit, with no comorbidities, and with Christmas just a couple of days away, he figured he could ride out the virus at home.
But he only got worse, ending up with symptoms so severe that his wife, fearful for his health, insisted that he go to the hospital after Christmas. With his lungs failing, Dave was put on a ventilator. But once the machine took over his lung function, his lungs atrophied to a point where, without a major medical intervention, he was in big trouble.
Doctors recommended extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a procedure that temporarily removes the blood from the body, oxygenates it, removes the carbon dioxide, then pumps the blood back through the body.
But there was one caveat. To get the procedure, both he and his wife would have to get COVID shots – no exceptions. With what the couple was learning about vaccine injuries and the low efficacy of shots and boosters, they felt the risks far outweighed the benefits. Besides, he already had COVID. Natural immunity. Right?
The hospital didn’t budge. No shot, no procedure. With his life in their hands, this quickly morphed into a nightmare. But the couple didn’t budge, either. At first.
With time running out, they searched for the rare hospital that had an expensive ECMO machine that would perform the procedure without forcing them to get the shot. No luck. The best they could find was one that only required him, not her, to get it.
So after months of avoiding it, Dave reluctantly, grudgingly, frustratingly agreed to get the shot. That’s when the nightmare plunged into medical hell.