A 54-year-old man who recently died of COVID-19 regretted his decision not to get vaccinated because he's vegan and he read the inoculation was tested on animals before being made available to humans.
Glynn Steel died of COVID-19 just a week after being placed in the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital, according to a GoFundMe that was set up for his funeral. His wife, Emma, told The Sun that her husband "begged for the vaccine" before he went on life support, but by then it was too late to inoculate him.
"The last thing Glynn said to me was 'I have never felt so ill, I wish that I had the vaccine,'" Emma told The Sun. "It was heart-wrenching."
Therapeutics and vaccines are regularly tested on animals before being administered to humans and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said animals play a "key role" in developing successful vaccines in humans. Along with genetically modified mice who could be infected with SARS-CoV-2 and Syrian hamsters, vaccines were tested on primates.
Emma told The Sun that Glynn didn't want to get inoculated against COVID-19 because he was vegan and the vaccine was tested on animals. She characterized her husband as a "very gentle soul" who cared for six rescue cats at his Worcestershire home in the United Kingdom and brought back a dog from a vacation in Sri Lanka.
Glynn passed away on November 16, about two weeks after he tested positive for COVID-19. His initial symptoms started off as a cold but his condition gradually deteriorated and Emma called an ambulance on November 2. Although people under 65 aren't considered high risk, it's possible Glynn's age contributed to why he became seriously ill after contracting COVID-19.
Emma told The Sun that the hospital informed her there were no ambulances available, so she had to drive him to the hospital herself, at which point he was unconscious. By November 10, Glynn was put on life support and was in a medically-induced coma.
Within 20 minutes of the life support machine being turned off, Glynn passed away.
"I was with him when he died. I was wearing a full [personal protective equipment] kit so I couldn't touch him, but they played his favourite [sic] music by the Sex Pistols and I stayed with him until the end," Emma told The Sun.
Newsweek reached out to the family through the GoFundMe page for comment.
The Steels are hoping to raise 4,000 pounds, the equivalent of about $4,300, to help cover the costs of his funeral. Emma, who is vaccinated, told The Sun she's urging everyone to get vaccinated.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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