My name is Benjamin. I am 28 years old and originally from Melbourne, Australia. I am an aspiring musician and work in the tourism industry. I used to be a tour guide, leading active expeditions from Melbourne to Alice Springs. I have run two half-marathons and was training for a full marathon. I also played soccer and went to the gym three to four times a week.
Due to the nature of my career and life, I figured I had no choice but to get vaccinated and did so on 17th August 2021. Thirty minutes after getting vaccinated I started to feel very odd. An extremely intense, almost electrical, pressure started in my head. My body started tingling all over and I had a very sudden and dramatic loss of energy. Over the next couple of hours, my eyes started to bruise and my chest tightened. It was almost impossible to take in a deep breath.
I took myself to the tiny hospital in my town. I was admitted overnight and monitored throughout my stay. The hospital administered blood tests and three ECGs in the 24 hours I was there. However, they found no issues and told me to go home and rest. Over the next few days all the symptoms amplified and got progressively worse. I went back to hospital desperate for answers but was told not to worry and dismissed by the doctor. Since Onslow is a remote town, I decided to go to a bigger centre three hours away to see if I could get a better response from the doctors there.
In the six days I was there, the doctors told me that ‘these things happen’ and that everything would be fine if I rested. I was extremely concerned by the pressure in my head most particularly, but all my symptoms were horrendous. I didn’t have enough energy to
speak, grip my phone, drive or walk. I couldn’t seem to do anything. I was determined to get an MRI in Perth. Due to the pressure in my head the doctors advised against flying. They said they could organise a RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) low altitude flight but felt that my situation wasn’t ‘enough of an emergency to warrant that’.
Nevertheless, I decided to take a commercial flight to Perth to have further investigations. The flight intensified my symptoms so badly that I spent a further three nights in Royal Perth Hospital. I was seen by a neurologist who ordered an MRI. After three nights, they said there was nothing wrong with me and that I was free to go.
Two months on, and my symptoms did not improve at all. I was very confused by the treatment I had received. Nurses and doctors all were so quick to assure me that what I was experiencing had nothing to do with the vaccine. One morning my symptoms were so bad that I couldn’t hold myself up. I drooped over and was unable to lift myself up or control my breathing.
I was taken to the hospital in Onslow and as I was (attempting) to explain what was happening, the nurse interrupted me and said, ‘I just want to say that you’re getting caught up in the vaccine injury hysteria. This is a textbook anxiety attack, and you need to go see a therapist’. I tried to explain that I had not felt anything like this before my vaccination and that I started experiencing ever-worsening symptoms 30 minutes after being vaccinated, but the nurse told me that I was in denial and offered me a benzo-diazepam tablet. They re-iterated their opinion that I should go see a therapist. Oddly, on my outpatient notes the doctors and nurse did not make any suggestions for further investigation into what was going on with me. Rather, they said that I ‘looked sad’.
After that, I made the extremely tough decision to move back to Melbourne to try and get better support. This meant losing my job, halting my career progress and losing my financial independence and close relationships, among other things.
During this time, a doctor in Melbourne reviewed all my medical files. He saw on my ECG charts that on the first night I went to hospital after the vaccination, that I had suffered acute pericarditis. The diagnosis was missed by the doctors in the three Western Australian hospitals. I want to try and keep my opinions out of this and just report the factual chronology of my story and how it all transpired. But to this day I am still extremely baffled, to say the least, about how this could have been overlooked.
I was incorrectly told that my pericarditis would be ‘over in 72 hours’ if I took certain medication. Unfortunately, because my pericarditis had gone undiagnosed and was incorrectly treated for four months, the medication I was prescribed made everything significantly worse. I was put onto an incredibly high dose of prednisolone (steroids), which I was supposed to remain on for five and a half months. I have since stopped taking it.
Again, I don’t want to make this sound biased. I just want people to see the very real stories that are happening all around the country. Since arriving back in Melbourne in December, the treatment I have received has been focused on trying to persuade me to get the second dose of the vaccine. It has been almost eight months and I still haven’t seen a cardiologist as the doctors don’t think it’s necessary. They did not extend my exemption after four months because they said it was time for me to get the second dose of the vaccine.
Close to eight months down the track, I am now able to hold conversations. I am also back to writing a little bit of music here and there. I can walk for about 25 to 30 minutes without too much pain. Unfortunately, the symptoms still persist and I live every day in constant pain. I try my hardest to push it the back of my mind and get on with my life. If I push myself too hard, the symptoms come back with the same intensity I experienced back in August, and then I am bed-ridden for at least the next 24 to 48 hours. The problem is that I still don’t really know specifically what sets them off. This makes it almost impossible to work and exercise.
Through a combination of both my inability to work for the last eight months and spending money on my own investigations, research, and alternative methods of therapy, I am out of pocket over $60,000.
I have had no further investigation from the medical system. They either don’t care, don’t believe me, or don’t want to hear about it. That is the sad truth; the sad reality in all of this.
But I keep going.
There are three reasons why I’m sharing this story with you now.
- I am so grateful and thankful for the existence of communities like this. You don’t know how important it is for people in my situation to see that there are still people that care.
- I am at a stage where I’m pretty desperate to get answers. I have tried every alternative remedy under the sun. But the reality is I am looking for medical tests to clear any indication that I might become another death statistic. If anyone has any suggestions, I would be more than happy to hear them.
- If there are other people in my situation, I want to show that we are stronger together. Do not be silenced.
Thank you everyone for everything. Say yes to life.