Anti-vaxxer dies of Covid nine days after saying virus had ‘nothing to fear’

A healthy man who died from Covid after refusing to be vaccinated made a “terrible mistake,” his partner said.

Leslie Lawrenson, 58, died at his home in Bournemouth on July 2, after playing down his symptoms and refusing to go to hospital.

His longtime partner Amanda Mitchell, 56, who was severely infected with the virus at the time, said he believed the vaccines were too “experimental” and put her family at risk.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, she explained that Lawrenson, a graduate of the University of Cambridge, decided not to do so after reading material on social media.

“It was a daily thing he would tell us, ‘You don’t need to have him, everything will be fine, just be careful.’

“He said to me, ‘It’s a gene thing, an experimental thing. You are putting something in your body that hasn’t been fully tested.

Lawrenson posted a social media vlog just nine days before his death, describing how he “spent six hours in a fetal position, trying to block the pain.”

He explained, “Every part of my body was consumed with pain. The fever rose incredibly hot – you could have fried me an egg. “

Despite the symptoms and his breathing difficulties, he said he didn’t want to call an ambulance, but rather had to “hold on” because he didn’t think he was in danger.

“These are things we have to suffer, it’s part of life. You have to trust your immune system. If the alternative is that we live in fear, we create a Bogey Man, out of something that 99.9% of us have nothing to fear, we have to face this.

He compared his condition to the flu, insisting that Covid was nothing different. However, the “potential dangers of taking the experimental jab” were not worth “the risk involved”.

He added: “I’d rather try my luck with my immune system.”

On July 2, Ms Mitchell – who had also refused the vaccine despite her diabetes and high blood pressure – called paramedics to the family home after falling seriously ill. She was then hospitalized.

They were called back 10 minutes later when her 19-year-old son found Lawrenson dead in his bed.

She said: “I feel incredibly stupid. Les died needlessly. Les made a terrible mistake and he paid a heavy price for it.

Ms Mitchell insisted she would receive the vaccine as soon as doctors deemed her sufficiently fit.