A Virginia father has released a series of Facebook videos from his hospital bed begging others to get the Covid vaccine.
Travis Campbell, of Bristol, was first hospitalised last month and has been documenting his treatment, hooked up to oxygen and machines and often struggling to breathe. He said he regrets not getting the vaccine for his wife, children or himself.
“I was very misinformed through just common talk, not doing my research, turning the TV off and not listening to anything because of all of the rhetoric that’s been going on with the political fighting,” he said in a video posted on Friday. “That’s not the excuse ... I was negligent.”
He said that he and his family thought they’d already contracted the virus at the beginning of the pandemic and felt that wearing masks and diligently using hand sanitizer would be sufficient to keep them safe.
“That wasn’t good enough,” he said on Friday. “If I get out of here, I’m one lucky soul.”
Doctors have told him that, at any time, he could face being put on a ventilator – and he and his wife had to discuss what they would do, he said in the videos. Mr Campbell even called his son to make him promise that, in the event of his death, he’d give away his older sister at her wedding.
“You just can’t put a value on your life,” Mr Campbell said.
The rest of his family also contracted the virus but did not require hospital stays.
According to CDC data released last week, 70 per cent of US adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
“Here’s what I would say: Covid’s the killer. It’s the real enemy, and it’s already here in our homes and in our communities. You’ve got to take a minute, take one hour, make a doctor’s appointment. Please go see your doctor. Talk to your children, talk to your parents, talk to your husband. Just don’t be like me and do nothing.”
He added: “I pray that you can make an educated decision, unlike my decision ... Covid, it don’t hold off. It’s coming to get you.”
