‘I’m now a vaccine statistic! My back pain over the last week was in fact masking…a blood clot’: Tragic last – Daily Mail

The husband of an Oxford University executive who died after taking the AstraZeneca jab is calling on the institution to admit its culpability in her death.

Nicola Weideling, 45, a senior manager at Oxford University, died in hospital on May 15, 2021, while being treated for blood clots caused by the Covid vaccine - developed by her university alongside AstraZeneca.

Just days earlier, Mrs Wiedeling attempted to put on a brave face as she posted 'fun fact' about her illness and told people not to worry about her, The Telegraph reports.

She wrote on Instagram: 'I am now a vaccine statistic! My neck pain and back pain over the last week or so was in fact masking... a blood clot (or two, they are still doing scans) resulting from my AZ vaccine a few weeks ago

'But the good news is that I have a correct diagnosis and am in the right place to get better. God bless the NHS!! And everyone. I would still recommend the AZ vaccine. I am an anomaly! An absolute outlier statistically.'

Tragically, Mrs Wiedeling was later struck down with a catastrophic bleed to the brain and her life support was switched off.

The adverse reaction suffered by Mrs Wiedeling is understood to be extremely rare, with VITT affecting around one in 50,000 people under the age of 50 who received the AstraZeneca jab.

Her widower Kurt Wiedeling, 54, has now called on Oxford University to accept responsibility for its part in his wife's death.

Since rolling out the AstraZeneca jab, the university has received 143million in royalties for its role developing the vaccine.

Mr Wiedeling believes some of these proceeds should be shared with the bereft families suing AstraZeneca over deaths and serious health episodes caused by the jab.

After Mrs Wiedeling's death, the university paid out a 1,000 bonus to 13,000 staff but a source denied this money was linked to AstraZeneca royalties.

Ironically, Mrs Wiedeling, who was a senior marketing executive for the university's publishing department, would have been entitled the bonus.

But she was never able to claim the sum as the vaccine killed her.

An inquest concluded that Mrs Wiedeling died ofVaccine-induced Immune Thrombocytopenia and Thrombosis, or VITT, a 'rare bur recognised' complication of the vaccine.

British health chiefs recommended all under-40s are offered an alternative to AstraZeneca's vaccine because of blood clot fears.

Cambridge academics estimated around 1.9 in every 100,000 twenty-somethings given AstraZeneca's jab would suffer serious blood clots alongside abnormally low platelet levels (thrombocytopenia) the specific disorder linked to the jab. For thirty-somethings the figure was 1.5.

They compared that against the average number of Covid intensive care admissions that would be prevented by giving that cohort the jab. And they then analysed the risk/benefit ratio in different scenarios, based entirely on how widespread the disease was at the time.

For example, only 0.2 ICU admissions would be prevented for every 100,000 twenty-somethings given the jab at prevalence levels seen in April (fewer than 30,000 infections per week). For adults in their thirties, the figure was around 0.8.

It showed, however, the benefits of giving AstraZeneca's vaccine to 40-49 year olds outweighed the potential risk (1.7 prevented ICU admissions per 100,000 people compared to 1.2 blood clots).

But the decision to recommend under-40s are offered Pfizer or Moderna's jab instead was basically only taken because the outbreak was squashed to extremely low levels, as well as the fact younger people are known to face tiny odds of falling seriously ill with coronavirus.

For older adults, who the disease poses a much greater threat to, the benefits of vaccination are clear, regulators insist. Jabs have already saved around 13,000 lives in England, top scientists believe.

However, because there were so few blood clots, it made it impossible for No10's vaccine advisory panel to give an exact age cut-off. Instead, they were only able to analyse figures by decade.

The first clots to alarm people were ones appearing in veins near the brains of younger adults in a condition called CSVT (cerebral sinus venous thrombosis).

Since that, however, people have developed clots in other parts of their bodies and they are usually linked to low numbers of platelets, which is unusual because platelets are usually used by the immune system to build the clots.

In most cases people recover fully and the blockages are generally easy to treat if spotted early, but they can trigger strokes or heart or lung problems if unnoticed.

Symptoms depend entirely on where the clot is. Clots in major arteries in the abdomen can cause persistent stomach pain, and ones in the leg can cause swelling of the limbs.

Mr Wiedeling described his wife, who he was with for 25 years, as 'very, very generous' and added she was 'committed to doing the right thing and helping others'.

He said she received her first vaccine jab on April 21, 2021, when AstraZeneca already knew about the risk of blood clots.

Regulators were also aware of the potential complications and pushed against its use for the under 30s, who were offered Pfizer or Moderna vaccines instead. In May, under-40s were also added to this category.

Mrs Wiedeling is reported to have begun feeling unwell about a week after her first jab, feeling a pain in her neck.

A GP suggested this was a muscle spasm but by May 8, her husband became seriously concerned by her severe headache and unexplained bruises on her arms.

Mr Wiedeling, who at the time worked for the Health Research Authority, which oversees medical trials, was aware of the possible side effects of AstraZeneca vaccine and called an ambulance.

His wife was transported to Winchester Hospital where doctors diagnosed her with VITT.

She was then transferred to a specialist neurological unit at Southampton General Hospital.

While there on May 9, she made her Instagram posts and told followers how she expected to be in hospital for at least a week while being given blood thinners and steroids.

The next day, she remained upbeat and posted again on Instagram, describing her 'highlights of the day - which included having one of her cannulas removed.

She also posted her 'lowlights', namely a coughing fit after her drink went down the wrong way, which she said led to 'an absolutely blinding headache all day'.

Doctors also found a second clot in her lung and a suspected clot in her stomach, but Mrs Wiedeling attempted to reassure friends it 'could be worse I suppose!'

The following day, on May 11, Mrs Wiedeling suffered a stroke from which she was unable to recover. Her husband signed consent forms for her heart and kidneys to be donated to three other patients and her ventilation was switched off on May 15.

Mr Wiedeling, who has since moved to Manchester, added: 'I said my goodbyes on Saturday afternoon. I was still in shock.

'The last thing I did for Nicola was ensure her wishes as an organ donor were fulfilled. For me that was finding a genuine ray of light in it all. There is comfort in that.'

Sources at Oxford University told the Telegraph:'Any royalties made from the vaccine are reinvested back into medical research.'

Oxford University has been approached for comment.

AstraZeneca is staunchly defending two cases in the High Court brought by VITT victims. The drug firm does not accept liability and rejects the claimants' assertion the vaccine is 'defective'.

The AstraZeneca jab is thought to have saved over six million lives worldwide in over 180 countries in the first year of its rollout.

40 further cases against AstraZeneca are expected to be brought to the High Court next month, including a claim by Mr Wiedeling, who has receiveda 120,000 payment from the Government under its Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme

Speaking of his wife, he added. 'I miss her every day. I will never get over this.'

A fundraising campaign has been set up help families bringing legal actionagainst AstraZeneca.

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'I'm now a vaccine statistic! My back pain over the last week was in fact masking...a blood clot': Tragic last - Daily Mail