Claire Bridges had survived, but just barely. She’d flatlined three times. Her legs were gone below the knee. The surge of drugs pumping through her system, combined with the shock of her circumstance, had resulted in a bout of psychosis in the hospital. Months later, she would still sometimes have to remind herself, This is real. I’m real. I’m here.
Bridges had survived COVID-19. She contracted the disease in January 2022, and a congenital heart condition called aortic valve stenosis had exacerbated the virus’s effect on her body. Tingles in her extremities quickly turned into a critical lack of blood flow. Surgery, life support and dialysis followed. Rhabdomyolysis — damaged muscle tissue poisoning Bridges’ blood — necessitated amputation.
She left the hospital last March and quickly learned that by doing so she’d be admitted into a growing club of people whose tragedies and medical emergencies have been turned into anti-vaccine propaganda. Thanks to a conspiracy theory-hawking film and a corresponding social media movement, anyone who had, as the saying goes, “died suddenly” — or in Bridges’ case, escaped a sudden death — regardless of the cause, was a target. Now, as their ranks swell and their frustration mounts at seeing lies about themselves and their loved ones, some are speaking out, refusing to stay silent as their experiences are hijacked.
Bridges’ fight for truth began with the first articles about her discharge from Tampa General. The New York Post wrote about Bridges’ experience, and a summary of the article appeared on the paper’s Instagram page, noting that she was a young model who, “despite being fully vaccinated,” had suffered serious symptoms from the virus. One day prior, The Daily Mirror, a British tabloid, had referred to her as a “double jabbed aspiring model.”
There was blood in the water, and people began writing comments that cast doubt on the media narrative. “Despite ? Or because of ?” one commenter snarked. “Clot shot,” said another, referring to blood clots supposedly resulting from being vaccinated. And another: “I’m so glad this thread is full of people who know the Rona ain’t had nothing to do with that poor kids amputation!”
“I had at least five or 10 people text me and say, ‘Don’t look at those comments,’” Bridges recalled to HuffPost.
Before she had the chance to tell the world the truth about what had happened to her, she was yet another cautionary tale for millions of people around the world. Don’t trust the vaccine, they’d say. Did you see what it did to that model in Florida?
This anti-vaccine propaganda movement has completely misrepresented stories of tragedy and medical emergencies. The victims are done being quiet about it. |
