'Think about your family': Vancouver Island mother urges vaccinations after husband hospitalized with COVID-19

Victoria -

Miranda Mellor is speaking out after her 39-year-old, vaccine-hesitant husband ended up in the intensive care unit (ICU) at the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria.

He’s currently at the hospital on a ventilator with COVID-19.

"It’s just been a blur," Mellor told CTV News on Tuesday. "I’ve just been trying to basically hold it together."

The Duncan, B.C. mother has her hands full. She’s juggling life with two children, a three-month-old, a two-year-old, after her husband, Josh, contracted COVID-19 on Sept. 2.

Last Sunday, he was put on a ventilator after he could no longer breathe on his own.

"He’s heavily sedated," said Mellor.

"They actually had to give him a paralytic because he was moving even with the amount of sedation that they’re giving him," she said. "He has to remain completely still, it’s not something you want to be awake for, that’s for sure."

She is double vaccinated, but says her husband believed misinformation he read on the internet, telling him that vaccines are unsafe. Therefore he skipped the shot.

"The misinformation needs to stop," said Dr. Brian Conway, Medical Director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre.

Conway says 85 per cent or more of the individuals that are ending up in the ICU are unvaccinated in B.C.

"The main thing that is blocking us from controlling the pandemic here in British Columbia is the unvaccinated," said Conway.

He says we will continue to hear more firsthand stories like Mellor’s if the unvaccinated continue to believe misinformation they are seeing online.

In the meantime, Mellor has a message for those who are hesitant about the vaccine.

"If you’re not going to do it for yourself, think about your family," said the wife and mother of two. "Who would take care of your kids if you fall very sick?"

Miranda Mellor is pictured with with her two daughters in Duncan, B.C.: (CTV News)

On Tuesday, B.C.’s top doctor pleaded with people who are hesitant about COVID-19 vaccines to visit the B.C. Centre for Disease Control's website for accurate information.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry addressed women who are pregnant or considering getting pregnant in particular. She urged them to get vaccinated because their babies are at higher risk of severe illness from COVID, saying that the vaccine isn’t just safe, it’s recommended.

"We have a number of young women that are pregnant that are in ICU right now who are not vaccinated," said Henry.

Mellor has not been able to visit her husband at the hospital, but when she eventually does it will have to be through a window.

For now, the three are trying to keep busy while they wait for any updates on Josh’s condition. Staying positive during a time like this, isn’t always easy.

"I try not to let my mind go to that other situation we could be in, because it is very real," said Mellor. "I try to manifest him coming home and that’s what I’m holding on to."