Vaccine myths debunked - The experimental myth. Video / NZ Herald
An East Coast man who contracted Covid-19 was put into an induced coma, needed a pacemaker installed and has had to learn to walk again in his long road to recovery.
Jason Collier is imploring vaccine hesitant people to get vaccinated or risk going through what he endured, or evenworse.
The 45-year-old was living in Auckland when he caught Covid-19, setting off a harrowing chain of events.
He had his first vaccination two weeks before falling ill and subsequently testing positive for Covid-19.
Jason was taken to a Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) facility.
Three days into his stay, he collapsed.
"I was happy that the doctors were there to find me lying on the floor," he said.
"I was put in an induced coma for 10 days but during my coma my heart couldn't cope and kept stopping, so they put a pacemaker in me."
Another 26 days in ICU at Middlemore Hospital followed.
"I was just living and being fed through tubes so you could say I have been given a second chance at life.
"It was pretty scary, I wouldn't wish that on anybody. It's real, definitely real."
And his life has changed for good.
Such was the toll Covid took on him, his rehabilitation has included such simple acts as learning to walk and talk properly again, relearning the alphabet and other simple tasks like showering and writing.
Jason formerly worked making cables for oil rigs but is now on a sickness benefit and unable to work.
