Unvaccinated man would rather ‘die free’ than get jabbed

North Carolina resident Chad Carswell has been denied a life-saving kidney transplant by a hospital because he has not been vaccinated. 

Carswell is a double amputee with kidney failure. About 100 people have offered to donate a kidney to him, but Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston-Sale won’t perform the surgery because he hasn’t had the COVID-19 shot. 

Carswell has recovered from COVID-19 twice, as well as six heart attacks. 

Currently, Carswell’s kidney is operating at 4% capacity, and he goes for dialysis three times a week. That’s only a temporary solution, however. 

“Those days are pretty tough,' Carswell said. 'It's getting harder. Those days are getting longer. I get it first thing in the morning. I used to come home and take a rest and have time in the afternoon to function and do stuff, and now those days are pretty much washed.” 

Carswell says that the doctors and nurses at Atrium Health have pressured him into getting vaccinated, but that’s not something he’s going to do. 

"They said the last thing we need talk about is your vaccination status," Carswell said. "And that's when I politely told him there was nothing really to talk about. It wasn't up for debate that I wasn't getting it. And then he told me, you know you'll die if you don't get it. And I said I'm willing to die." 

He added: “I was born free. I will die free. I'm not changing my mind.” 

The hospital said that their policy is standard. 

“Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist's policy follows the current standard of care in the United States, which is to vaccinate all patients on waiting lists or being evaluated for transplant,” said the hospital in a statement. 

As for the rationale behind his decision, Carswell says that he’s not against vaccines, but he is against forcing people against their will. 

Carswell says that Dr. Bob Stratta, who oversees the transplant unit at the hospital, agreed with Carswell. 

“[Stratta] called me and said that I was a very intelligent man and that the reasonings that I had for not agreeing with everything, he agreed with 100 percent, and that if it were up to him, he would allow me to get it," said Carswell. 

Carswell says he has COVID-19 antibodies from recovering from the illness twice.