Stephen Ward was rushed to hospital ten days after receiving the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in 2021, according to his wife Sheila Ward. He displayed symptoms consistent with a stroke, including difficulty speaking and weakness in his limbs, and developed a blood clot, with doctors fighting desperately to save his life. His family was told the bleeding was too severe for him to survive, leading to the decision to turn off his life support.
Sheila Ward was forced to wait nearly a year for a coroner to confirm his death was a result of complications of medical vaccination. In a separate case, Jamie Scott received the AstraZeneca vaccine in April 2021, according to his wife Kate Scott. Ten days later, he woke with a headache, vomiting and impaired speech and was taken to hospital by ambulance, she said.
Stephen was one of those people who would help anybody do anything. If your car wouldn't start in the morning he would help you, if you were unwell he would mow your grass, he was just one of those community-minded people.
He underwent multiple operations to treat a blood clot in his brain and was in a coma for four weeks, suffering side effects including impaired speech, reduced cognition, memory and processing deficits, visual difficulties, concentration difficulties and fatigue. Jamie Scott received a payment under the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme on the basis of the balance of probabilities that the vaccine caused his injuries. Official recognition and compensation for vaccine injuries have emerged through these cases, highlighting a system that acknowledges harm while leaving many questions unanswered.
The VDPS provides payments based on probabilistic assessments, as seen in Jamie Scott's case, but the process can be lengthy, with Sheila Ward waiting nearly a year for a coroner's verdict. These developments occur against the backdrop of the ongoing UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry, which is examining vaccine-related injuries. Medical unknowns and investigation gaps persist, complicating efforts to understand and address these adverse events.
We had both had Covid back in the November before the vaccines were rolled out, so from our point of view there was no urgency to take the vaccine. It was just the obvious choice really – to take the vaccine to protect loves ones, and like everyone else we wanted to get back to normal.
The official medical diagnosis or cause of the blood clots in both Stephen Ward and Jamie Scott cases has not been specified, leaving uncertainties about the underlying mechanisms. Additionally, it is unclear how many similar cases of severe adverse reactions to the AstraZeneca vaccine have been reported or confirmed in the UK, as comprehensive data on such incidents are not readily available.