Ross Wightman walks again.
But the 40-year-old BC resident now needs special leg straps.
“I basically don’t have any muscle or nerve movement or activity below my knees right now,” he said. His hands also have nerve damage.
“Both hands … are rolled up,” he told CTV News in an interview. “This makes doing just about anything challenging,” added the 40-year-old former pilot and real estate agent from Lake Country.
“I’m constantly dropping things to the ground. Phones, cutlery, whatever I tell you, I leave it.”
More than a year after being partially paralyzed after his COVID-19 vaccine, Wightman has become one of the first in the country to be approved for compensation through the federal injury support program. per vaccine.
“She is OK. That was the first thought that came to my mind, “he said.
Wightman developed a rare neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine in April 2021.
“My world turned upside down,” he said.
The latest available data from the BC Center for Disease Control indicate that 10 people have been hospitalized with GBS after a vaccine against COVID-19 between the start of the vaccination program in 2020 and March 2022. All have been discharged from the hospital.
“I had complete facial paralysis. I couldn’t smile, show my teeth or anything like that. I could barely close one of my eyes,” Wightman said.
“He had no leg function. He was paralyzed from the waist down,” he said.
Wightman spent a total of 67 days in the hospital.
Shawn Muldoon of Langley developed severe blood clots after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.
He still can’t work and is still waiting for compensation.
“I’m a little baffled by that, to be honest,” Muldoon said. “I feel like I’m beyond the frustrated stage. I just don’t know what’s going on with the process anymore.”
‘IMMENSE’ MENTAL IMPACT ON THE WHOLE FAMILY
Wightman did not disclose the exact dollar amount he received from the compensation program, but said it was not the maximum he said is set at $ 248,000.
“We’re a little bit in the middle of what’s on offer,” he said.
He also said he is eligible for income replacement.
It has been a difficult time for his entire family, including his wife, who has had to take on a much heavier workload, he explained.
“The mental impact on immediate family members is immense. You really can’t measure that,” Wightman said.
Although he is relieved to get funding, he said the real victory will be to see improvements in his health.
“I have a long way to go, but I have a lot of support from my wife and family and we are all up to the challenge.”
Four hundred people have filed claims for vaccine injuries in Canada. Less than five seconds have passed for the Vaccine Injury Support Program, which has not been updated since November 30, 2021.
In an email to CTV News, Health Canada, along with the Public Health Agency of Canada, “… continues to report that the benefits of vaccination with an approved vaccine in Canada outweigh the potential risk of disease.