A North Carolina man is dying for what he believes in, as he was denied a kidney transplant from a hospital after refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Chad Carswell, a double amputee, was denied a kidney transplant for not complying with COVID-19 vaccination requirements at the hospital he was preparing to have the procedure done.
Currently, Carswell is operating at 4% and requires dialysis three times a week to keep going, WSCO reported.
Despite this, Carswell does not want to get the vaccine and is choosing not to, even if it results in his death.
"I was born free. I will die free. I'm not changing my mind," Chad Carswell told WSCO. "I've had conversations with my family and everybody that's close to me. They know where I stand, and it'll not be a situation that occurs that I will choose to change my mind on this topic."
Even with Carswell's friends and Burke County businesses raising money for the surgery and over 100 people offering their own kidneys, the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Hospital will not proceed unless its vaccine requirements are met.
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Those requirements mean that the kidney donor and Carswell must be fully vaccinated. When Carswell discussed this with hospital personnel, the conversation was to the point.
"He said, 'The last thing we need to talk about is your vaccination status,'" Carswell said. "And that's when I politely told him there was nothing really to talk about it, it wasn't up for debate [and] that I wasn't getting it. Then, he told me, 'You know you'll die if you don't get it.' And I said, 'I'm willing to die.'"
Since the pandemic's start, Carswell has been infected with COVID-19 twice and shared that he thinks taking the vaccine is a personal choice, not something that should be required.
Even though he has denied the shot, Carswell is not taking this situation lightly, as he knows that the transplant means life or death.
"Without [a transplant], there's no telling how much longer I'll still be here. I have to have a kidney to prolong my life," he said.
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Hospital's policy is following that of health standards across the United States in an attempt to protect its patients.
"The reason it is recommended is to provide protection for the patient. Transplant patients are at high risk for severe illness if they don't have preexisting immunity prior to being transplanted," the hospital said in a statement, according to WCSO.
Still, Carswell is not giving up as he shared he is looking for hospitals in his area that would be willing to carry out the procedure.
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