A man has turned down a life-saving kidney transplant because he refused to get the coronavirus vaccine.
Chad Carswell, a 38-year-old, has been offered the organ by more than 100 people, however, he would not go under the knife because of his refusal to get the vaccine.
Right now, the 38-year-old has released a statement about the incident and has slammed the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Hospital, which is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
He said that getting the coronavirus vaccine should be a personal choice.
During an interview with DailyMail.com, he said that he had caught the coronavirus twice and has developed natural antibodies.
He added:
A lot of scientists say I’m more safe from my natural antibodies. It’s more to do with the fact that they’re trying to force you to do something. A lot of people think I’m anti-vax – I’m not anti-vax, I’m I-don’t-care-vax. If you choose to get it, by all means, get it – if you choose to not get it, by all means, don’t get it.
According to Carswell, who had 6 heart attacks in his life and is a double amputa, the person in charge to make the decisions is Dr. Bob Stratta.
Even though he is currently on dialysis, the 38-year-old man said that he is still in the hospital.
The man said that when he was told by the doctors that he would need to have the vaccine in order to have the transplant, he told Dr. Strata that he would not be getting it.
Carswell said that Dr. Strata agreed with his reasons for not getting the coronavirus vaccine.
The patient said:
It wasn’t up for debate, I wasn’t getting it. And he told me: ‘You know you’ll die if you don’t get it,’ and I told him I’m willing to die. I was born free. I will die free. I’m not changing my mind. He called me and said that I was a very intelligent man and that the reasoning that I had for not agreeing with everything, he agreed with 100 percent, and that if it were up to him, he would allow me to get it.
Marguerite Beck, from the Wake Forest School of Medicine, released a statement about the incident, where they said:
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist’s policy follows the current standard of care in the United States, which is to vaccinate all patients on waiting lists or being evaluated for transplant. The reason it is recommended is to provide protection for the patient. Transplant patients are at high risk for severe illness if they don’t have pre-existing immunity prior to being transplanted. We understand that some patients may not wish to be vaccinated. In this case patients can opt to be evaluated at another transplant center.
The hospital is yet to release a statement about the incident.
What are your thoughts on the man not getting the vaccine? Let us know what your thoughts are by leaving a comment in the comments section below!
