'I don't know who I am anymore' - Yorkshire mother on devastating side effects of Astra Zeneca vaccine

Vaccines were at the heart of the UK Government’s strategy to manage COVID-19. In early 2021, the UK deployed the most ambitious vaccination programme in history to pave the way for the safe and gradual lifting of restrictions caused by the pandemic.

As a responsible citizen, Ms Fahy, who was 49 at the time,  wanted to play her part in helping life return to normal. 

Ms Fahy told The Yorkshire Post: "I got the Astrazeneca vaccine on March 2 2021. At the time it was such a relief because my daughter Olivia, who was eight at the time, is autistic and needs constant support and my husband Lee is on medication for a long term condition.

She recalled: “I was worried that I might become ill with Covid because it would affect my ability to look after my family. I started feeling ill on the 10th March, developed a rash and booked an appointment with my GP on March 17.

"We were just setting off for the GP appointment when I had a bad pain in my head and lost the use of my left hand.”

Alarmed by the dramatic deterioration of her health, the GP surgery called for an ambulance. 

Ms Fahy added: "A further CT scan showed a blood clot on my brain. Initially they didn't know how to treat me as they had not seen anything like it before. Over the first couple of days in hospital the blood clots on my brain increased, they also found clots through the blood vessels in my liver.

"As well as knowing I was needed at home, I was petrified about going home and leaving the safety of the hospital, where I was having two to three blood tests a day.”

Ms Fahy found the experience of being separated from her daughter deeply distressing.

She recalled:  "Olivia had never been separated from me before. She couldn't deal with it. She couldn't even face speaking to me on facetime. I knew I was needed at home.”

When she was finally discharged from hospital, Ms Fahy was devastated to find that her health remained impaired. 

"Initially when I came home I slept most of the time,’’ she said. “Lee had been offered a job as a HGV driver, after being made redundant during lockdown, but was unable to take it on because he had to look after me and the family.

"I suffer from fatigue,’’ she said. “It's like hitting a brick wall. I feel so guilty that I can't do as much with the kids."

"As well as the fatigue, I have brain fog, dizziness, anxiety, depression and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). I received psychological support through Thrombosis UK, (a charity which aims to save lives and prevent suffering caused by blood clots) who have been amazing.”

Her life outside home has also changed. 

"I was an Accounts Office Manager, a job that I loved, and I was devastated not to be able to do it anymore,’’ she said.

"I applied for support from the Government's Vaccine Damage Payment scheme in November 2021,’’ she said.

“In March 2023, the Government replied that they acknowledged my ill health was caused by the vaccine but I was not ill enough to qualify for a payment.

"The VDPS is clearly not fit for purpose. If a fairer system existed it would not be necessary to litigate. I'm not anti vaccine but I want them to acknowledge that in my case the Astrazeneca vaccine has damaged my health and I need support.

"I applied for a Mandatory Reconsideration in September 2023. I received a call from VDPS to say that they are awarding me the £120,000 payment.”

In common with many people who have suffered complications linked to the vaccine, Ms Fahy doesn’t believe this payment is a fair reflection of the harm and distress she has suffered. She hopes the new Government will listen sympathetically to her plight and that of people like her. 

"I don’t think it is enough,’’ she said. “I am very happy that I have received it, but with what my family and I have been through, when you take into account the lost earnings for the last three years and the future lost earnings, it certainly isn’t enough."

“I am beside myself. I don't know who I am anymore."