Man says father, mother and brother all died from COVID-19 after being ‘caught’ in anti-vax claims and refusing to get vaccinated

• Francis Gonçalves says his parents and brother died from COVID-19.

• He said they were all dead within a week of being “trapped” by “anti-vaccination propaganda”.

• He hopes his story will inspire others to get vaccinated.

• See more stories on the Insider business page.

A close-knit family unit has been devastated after both parents and a brother died after contracting COVID-19 less than a week apart.

Francis Gonçalves, a 43-year-old chef living in Cardiff, Wales pictured below, told reporters his family members are not vaccinated because they firmly believe in the misinformation about vaccines.

“They’ve been caught up in a lot of the anti-vaccination propaganda,” he said, according to The Guardian. “He attacks people who are afraid and they fall for the trap.”

A fateful family dinner

According to multiple reports, the family, originally from South Africa, moved to the UK in 2015. A year later, parents Basil, 73, and Charmagne, 65, and brother Shaul, 40 – pictured in the tweet below – have moved to Portugal.

Gonçalves said he believed his family caught the coronavirus during a family dinner at the apartment his brother shares with his girlfriend in Portugal on July 8, WalesOnline reported.

Gonçalves, who was still in the UK at the time, did not participate, WalesOnline reported.

Her father had gone to the hospital a few days earlier because of kidney stones. “We believe he picked up COVID over there,” Gonçalves said, according to WalesOnline.

On the weekend of July 10, Gonçalves’ parents and brother all started to feel bad, WalesOnline reported. On July 14, her father was transferred to the intensive care unit, while other family members began to deteriorate, WalesOnline reported.

Worried, Gonçalves started making plans to return to Portugal, WalesOnline reported.

But while he waited for his PCR test results so he could travel, his brother died, WalesOnline reported. His father died three days later, a day before Gonçalves could fly over.

The story continues

When he arrived, his mother was already in a medically induced coma, WalesOnline reported. She died a few days later, on July 24, just seven days after the death of Gonçalves’ brother.

All three were buried side by side in the COVID-19 section of a cemetery in Lisbon, The Telegraph reported.

Gonçalves’ parents had underlying issues. But his brother was the “healthiest person” he knew.

“My mom and dad had underlying health issues,” Gonçalves said, the BBC reported. “But they should have had the vaccine… there was fear.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said vaccines reduce the risk of hospitalization or death from coronavirus by 25 times, even though it is the highly transmissible Delta variant.

But Gonçalves said his brother was the “healthiest person” he knew, regularly exercising, running or taking walks, he said. “He hadn’t been drinking for 15 years and was on a plant-based diet,” he said, The Guardian reported.

Gonçalves hopes his story will inspire others to get vaccinated.

“The message I want to get across is why would the government want to harm you by giving you a vaccine?” he said, the BBC reported.

“I know a lot of people choose not to get the vaccine,” he said.

“I sympathize with them, they ask ‘are we doing the right thing? “But it will hurt our families and the propaganda must stop.”

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