Local couple reflect on vaccine-induced health decline

WHEN Claire and Terry Smithson heard that a vaccine had been developed which would allow them to visit and care for their elderly parents, the local husband and wife were among the first to sign up for early inoculation.

Sitting side-by-side, two metres apart, in an almost empty hall in Omagh Leisure Complex, Terry, struck by the surrealism of the scene, took a photo his wife – blue facemask, looking straight ahead, waiting for her name to be called.

Little did they know, this picture would soon take on a poignancy that the couple could never imagine.

“Claire is now in a wheelchair and her degeneration began hours after she took the vaccine,” said Terry, who has had to quit his work to become his wife’s full-time carer.

Before that day, Claire was a lecturer in Omagh’s South West College for 20 years.

“She was fit, smart, healthy and full of life. She walked everyday, and would have no bother jumping into the pool and swimming 40 lengths. Truth be told, she had my head turned during lockdown trying to pull me out of the bed to do Joe Wicks every morning,” laughed Terry, who, as the secretary of Omagh Anglers, has always been more partial to the placid pace of a day by the river.

“Anyway, before taking the vaccine, we were not at all anti-vax. I mean, we were some of the first people to take it. Claire had two elderly parents, as did I at the time. She also cared for an uncle in Newtownstewart. We virtually jumped at the chance to get our jabs.”

But that initial eagerness is now something that the couple can now only look back on through a veil of pain, indignation and anger.

“The emotion and grievance is two-fold,” said Terry. “It is what the vaccine did to Claire, and it is also how the medical community tried to ignore and deny it,” he added, before walking us through the timeline of his wife’s decline.

“On February 26, 2021, we got our first jabs. Within hours, Claire noticed something wasn’t right. She could feel tingling in her feet.”

The couple chalked this up to some kind of mild, temporary reaction, akin to nausea or lightheadedness you might experience after a flu jab.

“We chatted to the GP, they said it had nothing to with the jab, and we took their word for it.”

But, a few days after, the tingling was moving from Claire’s feet up towards her knees.

“Again, we contacted a GP, who told us to go to an emergency department. After being assessed at South West Acute Hospital, we were told that Claire was ‘an anomaly’.”

A few weeks later, the couple were back in contact with their GP, who, again, told them to go to an emergency department again, this time one with a neurology department.

The couple attended Altnegelvin. On this occasion, with Claire’s toes curled painfully towards the soles of her feet, Terry took his wife in on a wheelchair.

“They kept her in for a week, doing tests and all the rest. While she was in there, she met a woman from Donegal who had taken a blood clot within 24 hours of getting her vaccine.

“When all was said and done, we were told Claire had FND (Functional Neurological Disorder), which, the doctor said, means that ‘you’ve all the hardware, but there is something wrong with the software’.”

Discharged

And with that, the pair were discharged without a prescription or follow-up appointment.

Since then, a lot has happened, including Terry being forced to take another vaccine – the same one which he holds responsible for ruining his wife’s life – in order to visit her in hospital.

“I have written to just about everybody who I thought could help: Robin Swann, Michael McBride, local MLAs and ones from other constituencies. It has definitely help our cause a bit, but still we haven’t got the degree of support we need,” said Terry.

Next month, October 14, Claire and Terry will attend an awareness day being held by VIBS NI (Vaccine Injured and Bereaved Support Northern Ireland) at Stormont’s Long Gallery.

“Part of what actually helped get this hearing for us and other people in our situation was an address that Claire and others gave to Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly recently.

“I was actually supposed to do it on Clare’s behalf, but I got too emotional.

“She just lent across, put her hand on my knee, and said, ‘I can speak for myself’. It was very powerful and it really got the attention of the First and Deputy First Minister.”

Terry concluded by saying that he personally knows of at least five other people living locally whose lives have been drastically impacted by negative medical reactions to one of the variations of Covid-19 vaccination.

“Everybody knows about Larry Lowe, but he is not alone. Please, if there is anybody else out there, join us on October 14. It is not the same as facing a doctor on your own anymore. Together we are strong and our voices will be heard.”

If you want to learn more about VIBS NI or reach out for support, visit their Facebook page ‘VIBS-Ni’.