'Think about your family': Vancouver Island mother urges vaccinations after husband hospitalized with COVID-19
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."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
They were from different countries and barely spoke each other's languages. More than 20 years later, they're still happily in love
He decided to spend Christmas somewhere that wouldn't involve snowstorm disasters. She was spending the holidays with family, travelling for the first time outside of her native country of Venezuela. 23 years later, they're still in love.
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries, police say
A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.
12 students and teacher killed in Columbine school shooting remembered at 25th anniversary vigil
Thirteen victims of the Columbine High School shooting were remembered during a vigil Friday on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the shooting that was the worst the nation had seen at the time.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
Iraq investigates a blast at a base of Iran-allied militias that killed 1. U.S. denies involvement
Iraqi authorities said Saturday that they were investigating an explosion that struck a base belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iran-allied militias, killing one person and injuring eight.
The House is on the brink of approving aid for Ukraine and Israel after months of struggle
The House is preparing in a rare Saturday session to approve US$95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies.
'It was joy': Trapped B.C. orca calf eats seal meat, putting rescue on hold
A rescue operation for an orca calf trapped in a remote tidal lagoon off Vancouver Island has been put on hold after it started eating seal meat thrown in the water for what is believed to be the first time.