“I wish I had listened” - GAA player urges others to get vaccinated from his ICU bed
Kilcoo Eoghan Rua GAC member Kieran Rogers has faced many battles before on the field, but as he fights COVID-19 in the Intensive Care Unit of Craigavon Area Hospital, the 46 year old said from his hospital bed, “I wish I had listened”.
The County Down man revealed in an impassioned plea for others to get vaccinated, that out of the 11 ICU beds in Craigavon, none of the Covid patients have been vaccinated.
Kieran shared the following statement, quoted below as originally shared:
SHOULD I VACCINATE AGAINST COVID-19?
“Some people believe, others don’t, just make your OWN mind up, as your actions affect more than just you.
“On 25 July I got my positive result for Covid-19. Already self-isolated from the previous day, I lasted to 30th when the Ambulance Service took me to Craigavon (Area Hospital), and after 6 days in a ward they had to move me to Intensive Care, where I have been since.
“Hindsight is a wonderful thing I always heard, but believe me I wish I had listened.
“Imagine you are standing at the sink in your kitchen with one little tablet in your hand, below you is a still bowl of water. That tablet is a FREE Vaccine, for you, that no one is forcing you to take. The bowl of water is the lives that you will effect. What do you do? Who do you do it for?
“Personally from what I know now, you take the tablet (jab). I’m no medical expert but of the 11 beds here in ICU none of us were vaccinated.
“I’m not saying the vaccine is a cure but it obviously must prevent or deter what I am fighting.
“Give me the option of one needle (four if you count 2nd jab, booster and flu jab). Currently I’m on that for breakfast and it’s not easy.
“But suppose you are like me and you say, ‘Hey it won’t effect me. I have a mask in my pocket. I keep my distance and it’s only a myth anyway. Sure by the time everyone else gets vaccinated I won’t need it!!’
“Then you let the pill drop it into the bowl and watch the ripples.
“The first ripple is locking your friends and family down, changing their lives forever. The second ripple is the ambulance you remove from service for two hours while it collects you.
“Third comes the staff you tie up in the hospital just to settle you, then those that have to care for you. And onwards the ripples go. These people are risking their lives to save yours even though you made YOUR choice.
“These staff are over worked as it is and are splitting shifts and covering each other just for you. Each extra bed that means another staff member, another floor runner, another cleaner. These people don’t come free so ultimately your decision is taking much needed money from the frontline of this battle and moving it elsewhere.
“I don’t do politics, but those in charge need to stop arguing over the borders and start protecting the NHS, because without them there will be nobody looking to come here anymore and we will have lost a service vital to everyone. Give these frontline workers a furlough up front rise until you stop bickering over pennies. You MUST speculate to accumulate but the NHS is proven stock, it’s no gamble.
“Finally, back to the vaccine. Do you take it? I say yes.
“People are loading their lips and faces with needles daily. Other choose needles, pills and powder for recreational purposes, not knowing if what they are taking has been tested or not.
“So please take the Tested Vaccine. Look after your health and the health of all around you.
Thank you NHS,
Kieran”
