18 November 2021
Rob Amon is the chief of the Timberlands Forestry Team that works under the Murupara Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) and who’s recovering from a seizure, which he believes is linked to being double-vaccinated against Covid-19.
Recently, he’s been faced with one of the hardest things he’s had to do in his life; giving his fire crew, the ultimatum of picking vaccination or losing their job.
“This was putting their livelihoods and family in jeopardy and I didn’t want to tell them this. But by government laws, I was forced to. After spending the last 30 years working towards the position I have with Forestry 'fire fighting' (FENZ) and keeping people employed in Murupara I decided vaccination was the best option for the team,” he says.
Twelve days after Rob received his second dose in October, he was taken to Rotorua Hospital.
“I went to bed with a slight headache and woke up roughly around 3 am with my wife, my two sons, my parents and the doctor (Bernard Conlon) around me. I had a seizure and I was taken to the Rotorua Hospital by the Murupara Ambulance.”
The hospital couldn’t explain the reason for the seizure but Rob says the hospital told him he was lucky and there were no long-term effects. Rob says his blood taken on the night (4 Nov) of his seizure shows that it was related to the vaccine.
“My blood tests showed that my protein level was three times higher than it should have been. I found out that when you have protein spikes you can experience severe pain in your muscles which can also cause a seizure.”
He was released two days after being admitted to hospital. The Murupara Medical Centre has prescribed him medication which he says is working.
“I was given the option of trialling a rongoā – a medicine. A natural rongoā. Now, this worked pretty quick. The day after taking it my pain level was a 10, the next day an 8 and the pain has been gradually reducing since.”
Rob says now he’s nearly 85 per cent back to good health. He supports anyone who wants to get the vaccine and encourages everyone to respect the rights of others to choose a treatment against Covid-19 that works for their health conditions.
“I believe if there are other ways to deal with Covid-19 then we should be given all the information so each of us can choose our own path to go down.
“Dr Bernard Conlon and Dr Britta Noske are the people to help guide us down this path. We have to stick together because even in my own family I’ve seen massive division. Some want the vaccine and some don’t. We all need to work together so we can get through.”
Ministry of Health has published information about Covid-19: Vaccine side effects and reactions, which you can see here. Please consult your doctor if you are experiencing side effects or reactions.
Rob Amon shared his story at the Communities in Unity event (13 Nov) which was attended by hundreds of people from across Te Ika Whenua.
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