Girl, 17, in hospital with COVID targeted by anti-vaxxers after urging young people to have jab
A 17-year-old girl who is in hospital after falling seriously ill with COVID says she has been targeted by anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists after urging young people to have the vaccine.
Maisy Evans, a former member of the Welsh Youth Parliament, told Sky News she feared she would die when her oxygen levels “dropped dramatically” after contracting coronavirus.
The teenager from Newport, South Wales, says she has struggled with symptoms including dizziness, shortness of breath, “excruciating” headaches and a loss of smell and taste, as well as suffering a COVID-related blood clot on her lung.
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Maisy says she has been targeted by online trolls after urging young people to have the vaccine. Pic: Maisy Evans
She tested positive for the virus on 14 August, three days after having her first Pfizer jab, but she says doctors have insisted her illness and her blood clot are not related to the vaccine.
After revealing her ordeal on social media, Maisy says she has been targeted online by trolls accusing her of being a “liar” and an “actress paid by the government”.
She told Sky News: “I’ve had to deal with a lot of anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists which is deeply frustrating.
“I’ve been called a liar, an actress paid by the government to push certain agendas, Satan, a Nazi, evil, and so many more things.
“It’s totally uncalled for.”
Maisy, who is being treated at the Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran, says the virus has left her struggling to stand without getting out of breath and it takes her an hour to recover from having a shower.
“It feels like I’ve ran 40 miles,” she said.
“I’ve probably had every possible symptom. I’ve had the cough, the high temperature, the shakes, the sickness, the dizziness, the shortness of breath, the excruciating headaches, the body aches. You name a symptom – it’s hit me.
“I even lost my sense of smell and taste.
“Most of these symptoms have eased but the breathlessness is definitely still an issue. It was one of the last symptoms to develop.”
Maisy says she feared she would die after her oxygen levels ‘dropped dramatically’
After suffering with the effects of the virus at home for about two weeks, Maisy was admitted to hospital on 25 August fearing she had meningitis after her condition worsened.
However after several blood tests, X-rays and CT scans, she says a COVID-related blood clot was found on her right lung.
“Before I was taken to hospital we called NHS 111 for advice because I had such a bad headache and severe neck pain,” she said.
“I couldn’t lift my head without wanting to scream. That’s when they sent a first responder and started to worry about meningitis.
“There was a moment where I feared for my life – my oxygen saturation levels dropped dramatically and it was really scary.
“Thankfully, my levels slowly increased and I was okay.
“I haven’t been told how long I’ll be in for. I guess that depends on the progress I make.”
After receiving a message of support on social media from Newport East MP Jessica Morden, Maisy said her experience was “a tale that needs to be shared”, adding: “I’d love to know how different my story would be if I’d been offered the vaccine just a week or two earlier.”
Experts have warned that it is “highly likely” there will be large levels of coronavirus infection in schools by the end of September, with pupils in England and Wales returning to classrooms this week.
A first dose of the COVID vaccine is being offered to 16 and 17-year-olds in the UK – with no second dose planned as yet – while vaccinations have also been recommended for those aged 12-15 if they are at higher risk from the virus.
Maisy says her message to young people is: “Get the vaccine to protect yourself.”
“We are extremely lucky to have access to a COVID-19 vaccine and it’s important we take up the opportunity to receive the doses because it’s all about weighing up the risks,” she says.
“Clearly, the virus itself poses a risk to young people – I learnt the hard way – so getting a vaccine to protect yourself is so important.”
A judo Olympian has said her family is “devastated” after the discovery of body in the search for her missing brother.
Lubjana Piovesana, 28, appealed for help to find her younger sibling, Luis, 26, on Saturday. He had not been seen since the early hours of Friday morning.
A body was found in the River Frome near Napier Road in Eastville, Bristol, at around 6pm today, Avon and Somerset Police said.
Formal identification is yet to take place, the force added.
In a post on Instagram, Ms Piovesana wrote: “Hello everyone, Luis has been found.
“We are completely devastated but he has passed away.
“I am grateful for everyone’s support. And I am so sorry this happened.
“Luis was my little brother and loved by everyone. I wish he could have seen the love from everyone. He will be remembered by us all.”
The post was signed off with a dove emoji.
Luis Piovesana did not have any money or his mobile phone with him when he went missing, police said. Pics: Avon & Somerset Police
Mr Piovesana was last seen at around 3am on Friday at the Eastgate retail park, which is less than a 10-minute walk away from where the body was found.
He had travelled there by taxi from a venue in Little Ann Street, St Jude’s, a 10-minute drive away.
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The 26-year-old’s family spent the weekend searching for him, and asked people to check their sheds and gardens.
His partner, Laurin Bohler, said loved ones had travelled from Birmingham to help.
Mounted officers and police drones were also involved in the investigation.
Ms Piovesana competed for Team GB before switching to the Austrian team, and defeated British competitor Lucy Renshall in the women’s -63kg judo event at the Paris Olympics last year.
A man has been jailed for life for murdering his son’s girlfriend after she returned home from the school run.
Officers from Dyfed-Powys Police were called to an address on Bigyn Road in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, on 5 July last year.
Sophie Evans, 30, had sustained 72 separate injuries on the outside of the body, “all but three of them new injuries”.
Richard Jones, who is now 50, believed he was “being taken advantage of financially” by Ms Evans and his son, with whom she was in a relationship.
While the purpose of Jones’s visit was “purely normal”, he confronted her on that morning about his suspicions and Ms Evans’s reaction was such that Jones “lost [his] temper”.
He subjected Ms Evans to “gross violence” before ultimately strangling her and leaving the property to run errands, including ordering a new bank card and buying pastries from a bakery.
Richard Jones. Pic: Dyfed-Powys Police
‘Last time on their school run’
During sentencing on Monday, the defendant kept his head bowed for most of the hearing.
He will have to serve at least 20 years behind bars before he can be considered for release by the parole board.
Swansea Crown Court heard Ms Evans was the mother of two young children.
Passing his sentence, Judge Geraint Walters said Ms Evans “had just taken her two children for the last time on their school run” prior to the attack.
“She wasn’t to know that when she parted company with them that morning,” he added.
The court heard the Jones believed he was being defrauded by Ms Evans and his son.
“There is clear evidence, that in the days leading up to this, that you had begun harbouring thoughts that Sophie Evans and your own son were in fact financially scamming you,” he said.
“What precisely brought about that view is difficult to determine.”
Judge Walters said Jones “lost [his] temper when [he] didn’t get the answer that [he] thought [he] deserved”.
He added that, having lost his temper, the defendant “subjected [Ms Evans] to gross violence over a period of time, before you ultimately extinguished her life by strangulation”.
The court was told in evidence that at the time of the attack, Ms Evans was wearing only a bath towel.
‘The rock of our family’
In a victim personal statement, Ms Evans’s sister Kerry Quinlan told the court she was “the rock of our family”.
She said Ms Evans was taken from them in a “senseless and cruel act”.
“Words cannot express fully how much of a loss this has been to her children,” she added.
“When they cry themselves to sleep wanting their mum, she isn’t there and never will be.”
Ms Quinlan added that Jones had “taken everything from us, all in the most despicable way possible”.
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Ms Evans’s partner at the time, and the defendant’s son, Jamie Davies, said in a victim personal statement, read on his behalf, that they had both “trusted” Jones, and that Ms Evans had even been planning the defendant’s 50th birthday.
“The thought of having to live my life without Sophie causes me extreme pain and heartache,” he added.
Prosecuting, Michael Jones KC said the offence was aggravated by the defendant’s previous convictions and the fact Ms Evans was murdered in her home.
In mitigation, David Elias KC said there was a “lack of premeditation”.
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