Wales, UK resident Francis Gonsalves is using the pain of losing his mother, father and brother as an incentive to warn others about the dangers of not being vaccinated against the coronavirus.
All three lived in Portugal and decided not to get vaccinated, swayed by false news about the supposed risks of vaccination that had no scientific evidence. In July, they died within a week of complications from the disease, which they apparently contracted during a family event.
“They didn’t take the opportunity to get vaccinated because they were afraid. My parents had chronic health issues, but they should have been vaccinated. But there was all the hype about that.”
“I know a lot of people choose not to get the vaccine. They can’t see it from any other perspective – for example, why would anyone give doses if they were harmful?”
“I have sympathy for these people, they wonder if they are doing the right thing. But it will harm our families, so all (anti-vaccine) advertising should stop.”
To make Gonçalves’ pain worse, he was unable to travel to Portugal due to travel restrictions to the country. While detained in the UK, his father Basil, 73, mother Charmaine, 65, and brother Shaul, 40, were taken to hospital and faced a rapid deterioration in their health.
The brother died on July 17, and the father followed three days later, until the mother succumbed to COVID-19 disease on July 24.
Gonçalves says messages of support from friends and family help cope with this great grief.
“I don’t think it’s going to be easy for long. But people look up to me and offer their condolences. There has never been a day when no one stopped calling me. It really helped me.”
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