Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts has refused a heart transplant on patient D.J. Ferguson, a 31 year old who is at the top of a list to receive the said surgery because he remains unvaccinated against COVID. The young father of two expressed that he did not have any intentions of getting inoculated.
Ferguson's father, David, told WBZ 4 CBS Boston that his son has "gone to the edge of death to stick to his guns and he's been pushed to the limit" and that COVID vaccination is "kind of against his basic principles."
"[D.J.] doesn't believe in it," the young patient's father explained. "It's a policy they are enforcing and so, because he won't get the shot, they took him off the list of a heart transplant."
Brigham and Women's Hospital defended their decision in a statement that explained how many other transplant surgeries in the country, the COVID vaccine is "one of several vaccines and lifestyle behaviors required for transplant candidates" in their hospital system. The requirement was set in place "to create both the best chance for a successful operation and also the patient's survival after transplantation."
Faithwire reported that according to Dr. Arthur Caplan, who leads the medical ethics department at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine that immediately after any type of surgery, a patient's immune system is essentially "shut off," placing the patient at risk for any type of communicable illnesses. He added that the flu or COVID "could kill you."
"The organs are scarce," Dr. Caplan explained of the availability of organs for transplant. "We are not going to distribute them to someone who has a poor chance of living when others who are vaccinated have a better chance post-surgery of surviving."
Right now, Ferguson, who is also expecting the arrival of his third child, is still at Brigham and Women's Hospital and his father said that his heart is severely deteriorated and cannot operate independently. His family said they are "aggressively pursuing all options" for him to receive the heart transplant surgery.
"But we are running out of time," Ferguson's father lamented. "I think my boy is fighting pretty...courageously and he has integrity and principles he really believes in and that makes me respect him all the more."
According to the New York Post, Ferguson has been hospitalized since November due to a hereditary heart issue. His lungs had started filling with blood and fluid as an effect of his heart problem. A GoFundMe page was set up for the young father of two, who did not want to get the COVID vaccine due to concerns about heart inflammation.
According to the page, "We have had many conversations with the doctors, who confirmed that his heart COULD swell and go into severe crisis but they can't guarantee anything and it's a choice we will have to make if he wants to be listed."
A later update reported that Ferguson was set to have an LVAD pump placed to "mechanically pump his heart until a donor heart becomes available." However, this is a temporary measure and the family said they were "literally in a corner right now" because Ferguson's condition is "extremely time sensitive."
Readers are urged to pray for Ferguson's healing and recovery, and for God's favor to turn things around for him and his family.
