A mum-of-two has launched a claim for compensation after being left in a coma for four days shortly after having a Covid vaccine. Sarah Birch, 46, used to work two jobs but says she has been left virtually bedbound for months after developing Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).
Sarah said her health problems started with dizziness, back ache and tingling in her toes and tongue, and ended up with her collapsing at home shortly after having a Covid jab in May last year.
An assessment is now being carried out by an independent medic to determine if Sarah will be successful in her claim for compensation for loss of health and earnings from the government’s Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS). The investigation will determine if there is a link between the illness and the jab.
Sarah says she is currently unable to work and has been left in constant pain, reports StokeonTrentLive.
Sarah said: “When they brought me around I was pretty paralysed, I was there for 15 weeks. I have to have monthly treatment. I came home six weeks early because I was worried about my son who had dropped out of school because he couldn't see me in pain. I had a relapse and went back in.
“My life has completely changed. I don’t sleep and am in constant pain. It has been a long journey and I feel that if I didn't have the vaccine my life would be normal.”
University College London’s Queen’s Square Institute of Neurology has studied the correlation between vaccinations and cases of GBS.
It reported in May this year that researchers had “observed that between January to October 2021, 996 GBS cases were recorded” in the UK, but with an “unusual spike in GBS reports occurring between March and April 2021”.
Their analysis revealed 198 GBS cases occurred within six weeks of the first-dose of Covid-19 vaccines, in England.
Of these, 176 people had had an AstraZeneca vaccination.
The lead author of the research, Professor Michael Lunn, said that “the reason for the association between only AstraZeneca vaccination and GBS is unclear”.
The research also noted that in other mass-vaccination programmes such as the swine flu vaccine programme in the USA in the 1970s, there was a “small increase in GBS associated with what was a novel flu jab at the time”.
Sarah said: “I have been through hell and back through no fault of my own and now I feel like I am left on the shelf. I feel like it’s mental torture. I feel let down and I can’t move on with my life - I need the money because I’ve not got a job.”
A spokesman for AstraZeneca said: “The safety of anyone taking AstraZeneca’s vaccine is paramount and regulatory authorities have clear and stringent standards to ensure the safe use of all medicines, including vaccines.”
Guillain-Barré (pronounced ghee-yan bar-ray) syndrome is a very rare and serious condition that affects the nerves. It mainly affects the feet, hands and limbs, causing problems such as numbness, weakness and pain.
It can be treated and most people will eventually make a full recovery, although it can occasionally be life-threatening and some people are left with long-term problems.
