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A resident of Cardiff, Wales, whose mother, father and brother died from COVID-19 within a week of each other, is now urging the public to get vaccinated against the virus. The example, tragically, is far from isolated, as COVID-19 patients and their families increasingly express their regret at not getting vaccinated. virus.
According to WalesOnline, Francis Gonçalves’ family, located in Portugal, had resisted the vaccine due to frightening, anti-vaccine “misinformation”.
The 43-year-old explained to the news site: “Dad went to the hospital on July 6 for kidney stones, we believe he picked up COVID there. On Thursday July 8, my parents had dinner at my brother’s apartment which he shares with his girlfriends and they started to feel terrible this weekend. “
On July 10, the parents of Gonçalves, Basil, 73, and Charmagne, 65, were admitted to hospital. Two days later, Basil was sent to intensive care.
As Goncalves prepared to travel to Portugal amid travel restrictions, he struggled to stay in touch with his family. “I was talking to my brother every day and we couldn’t reach my father … It was very difficult for me to reach him in a country [where] I couldn’t speak the language, ”he explained.
“Meanwhile [my brother’s] the mucus had turned from green to brown and I told him to be very careful as it could be a sign of pneumonia, ”Goncalves added. “From that point on he deteriorated and when I managed to talk to him I was able to tell that there was definitely something going on. wrong with him. “
On July 18, at around 1 a.m., Gonçalves’ brother, Shaul, passed away. Described by Gonçalves as the “healthiest person,” the news came as a shock. “If he wasn’t training in the gym or running, he was going for a walk. He hadn’t been drinking for 15 years and had a complete plant-based diet,” he said.
Gonçalves ‘parents’ condition also deteriorated rapidly, with his father passing away on July 20 and his mother succumbing to the disease on July 24.
About a week later, the three family members were buried next to each other in a cemetery in Libson, in a section designated for COVID-related deaths.
Describing his family as “small and close,” the loss was more than devastating for Gonçalves. “I was and still am proud of my family,” he told WalesOnline.
Meanwhile, he talks about the experience to advocate for others to get vaccinated: “They’ve been caught up in a lot of the anti-vaccination propaganda going around,” he said. “It attacks people who are scared and they fall into the trap. The message I want to get across is why would the government want to hurt you by giving you a vaccine? What is the purpose behind that? have spoken to so many people who are terrified of the vaccine and it costs lives. “
APU GOMES / AFP / Getty Images
Unfortunately, Gonçalves is far from alone in his experience. In recent weeks, several reports of COVID patients and their families have expressed regret over their reluctance to vaccinate.
An unvaccinated 28-year-old man in Georgia died of COVID-19, while his wife, who had received an injection, survived. “He was immersed in TikTok conspiracy theories and, for him, he just didn’t want to get [the shot]The 25-year-old widow said. After falling ill, she said he changed his stance on the vaccine, wishing he had gotten it.
A 22-year-old from New Orleans died on Friday after contracting COVID-19. He was not vaccinated, despite his mother’s pleas. “Don’t stop talking to your kids. Don’t stop asking them to get vaccinated,” her mother told a news outlet.
According to Our World in Data, only 30.2% of the world’s population has received at least one COVID-19 vaccine. The percentages vary widely from country to country, with richer countries benefiting from higher vaccination rates. As of August 9, “only 1.1% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose” of a COVID-19 vaccine.
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