Teen Who Had Heart Attack After Vaccine: ‘I’d Rather Have COVID’
An 18-year-old from Springdale, Arkansas, who had a heart attack after receiving his second dose of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine said he’d rather get COVID than have a heart attack.
In an interview with The Defender, Isaiah Harris said he received his first dose of Pfizer on April 8 and second dose on April 30. Within 12 hours of the second dose, the teen developed a fever and chills. His father, Justin Harris, initially didn’t think much about it because he got sick after both doses of the Moderna vaccine, although his symptoms weren’t serious.
That wasn’t the case for Isaiah. Within 48 hours of the second dose, Isaiah’s heart started hurting “very very bad” and things started going downhill fast. Harris said they grew really concerned when their son started having trouble breathing.
“We took him to the hospital but they didn’t take him seriously,” Harris said. “We waited in the waiting room for over two hours and then they left him in a hallway for six hours. Things went from bad to worse while waiting in the hospital. That’s when he had his heart attack and one of his lungs filled up with fluid.”
Harris said it wasn’t until his wife — who was the only one allowed with Isaiah in the hallway due to COVID restrictions — told the staff multiple times her son was having a heart attack that they put him in a room and ran the EKG.
Isaiah’s EKG was abnormal and his numbers kept getting worse. At one point, 80% of Isaiah’s heart was inflamed and only 40% was functioning. Isaiah’s troponin levels were so high doctors said he had suffered a heart attack.
“Doctors kept denying it was the vaccine,” Harris said. “They didn’t want to say it was that. Then a nurse brought in a study showing the vaccine could cause myocarditis.”