“I was born free, I will die free”

For more than four years, Chad Carswell, 38, has suffered from severe kidney disease. In July 2020 he started dialysis – but now his kidneys are working at only 4%.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Carswell said he recently applied for a kidney transplant, but was turned down because he hadn’t received a coronavirus vaccine. And, despite his hospital’s demands that organ recipients be vaccinated against the virus, he refuses the injections.

Carswell, of Hickory, North Carolina, acknowledged his condition was a “ticking time bomb” and said he lived each day as if it were his last. Still, he won’t take a coronavirus vaccine – even if it means losing a potentially life-saving transplant.

“There is no situation in this world where I get a vaccine,” he told the Post. “If I’m lying on my deathbed and they say to me, ‘You have a kidney waiting for you if you get vaccinated’, I’ll say to them, ‘I’ll see you on the other side’.”

Carswell isn’t the only unvaccinated person on a transplant waiting list to be denied an organ. Last week, DJ Ferguson’s family said a Massachusetts hospital denied him a heart transplant because he refused to take a vaccine against the coronavirus, the Associated Press reported. In October, a Colorado hospital announced that it refuse a kidney transplant to a woman unless she has been vaccinated against the coronavirus.

In both cases, the hospitals cited policies that require all transplant recipients at getting vaccinated due to research showing these patients are at higher risk of dying from covid-19. Studies estimate the death rate of transplant patients who contract covid at around 20-30%, La Poste reports.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, which recently drew criticism for denying Ferguson a heart transplant due to his vaccination status, said in a press release that there are more than 100,000 patients waiting for organs and that about half do not receive one in five years.

“Given the shortage of available organs, we are doing everything we can to ensure that a patient who receives a transplanted organ has the best chance of survival,” the hospital said. He also cited advice from the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and other organizations that recommend patients receive coronavirus vaccines before undergoing a transplant.

Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, the hospital where Carswell hoped to receive his transplant, declined to comment on his case. In a statement to the Post, a spokeswoman said the hospital’s vaccination policy is intended to protect transplant patients, who are at high risk of serious illness from covid-19.

“[Our] The policy follows the current standard of care in the United States, which is to vaccinate all patients on waiting lists or being evaluated for a transplant,” the statement said, adding, “We understand that some patients may not wish to be vaccinated. In this case, patients may choose to be evaluated at another transplant center.

Carswell told the Post he had a long history of health issues. After being diagnosed with type II diabetes, Carswell said he developed infections and other complications in his legs, both of which had to be amputated. He had covid twice, he said – once in November 2020 and again last September, which landed him in hospital for a short time.

For the past four and a half years, Carswell said, he battled stage four kidney disease and he underwent dialysis in 2020 when his kidney function began to decline rapidly. For the past few months, Carswell said, he was looking for a new kidney and found many people willing to donate one to him.

It wasn’t until an appointment about three weeks ago, he said, that a doctor told him he needed a coronavirus vaccine to be eligible for a transplant. . The doctor also told her that her kidney donor should also be vaccinated.

It was a problem for Carswell, who said he didn’t want to be forced to get shot. He added that he does not believe in conspiracy theories about vaccines, but remains skeptical about how they were developed.

Coronavirus vaccines have Passed rigorous security reviews and are effective in preventing serious illnesses and death. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended anyone over the age of 5 takes a coronavirus vaccine.

But for Carswell, getting vaccinated comes down to a personal choice, he said

“It’s about standing up for our rights and understanding that we have a choice,” he said.

Carswell said he knows that by refusing to get vaccinated, the donor kidney he desperately needs will remain out of reach. But he says he is ready to accept the consequences, even if it costs him his life.

“I was born free,” Carswell added. “I will die free.”