The AstraZeneca vaccine 'victims': From families losing loved ones to those ... trends now

The AstraZeneca vaccine was said to have saved more than six million lives around the world in the first year of the rollout during the Covid-19 pandemic.

But at least 81 Britons died from blood clot complications that appeared to be linked to the jab, according to figures collated by UK drug watchdog the MHRA.

Now, the Cambridge-based pharmaceutical company has admitted in court for the first time that its Covid vaccine can cause the deadly blood clotting side effect.

The extremely rare reaction is at the heart of a huge class action by dozens of families who allege they or loved ones were injured or killed by the jab.

Product details for the AstraZeneca jab were updated publicly in April 2021, with MHRA approval, to include the possibility that it was capable in very rare cases of being a trigger for thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).

As families and survivors continue to fight for compensation, MailOnline has compiled the stories of some of those whose deaths were linked to the vaccine.

Lisa Shaw, 44 

Lisa Shaw, an award-winning radio presenter on BBC Radio Newcastle, died in May 2021.

Until she was admitted to hospital she had been fit, healthy and fizzing with the sort of energy her job on the morning show required. 

Ms Shaw had been vaccinated on April 29, but started developing headaches a week later. 

On May 13, she was admitted to hospital where her husband Gareth Eve, now 43, was handed a print-out explaining what VITT was.

At first doctors were confident they could treat it, but on May 16, Ms Shaw started to have speech problems. 

Her husband recalled: 'We were having a conversation about [their son] Zach's swimming lessons and she couldn't get out the word 'goggles'.' 

It was discovered that she had suffered a bleed on the brain, and was rushed to surgery where part of her skull was removed to ease the pressure. 

She never recovered and spent the last five days of her life on a ventilator, as her family gathered in shock. She died on May 21, leaving behind her six-year-old son Zach.

Tom Dudley, 31 

Tom Dudley, 31, who had no underlying health conditions, got his first dose of the AstraZeneca jab near his home in Sheffield on April 27, 2021. 

The 30-plus age group was not called forward for the Covid vaccine until late May that year.

It is not clear if the father-of-two was called forward for a jab early as some people who lived with vulnerable Brits were or, as happened at various points during the initial vaccine rollout, he was able to get a jab early in his area.  

Mr Dudley, who worked as a carpet salesman, soon began to suffer headaches — a common side effect of the vaccine that normally faded within days.

Two weeks after getting the jab, he was found unresponsive in the early hours at the home he shared with his partner Simone and their two daughters.

The Sheffield United fan was rushed to Northern General Hospital, but doctors said the bleed on his brain was 'incurable' and he died three days later. 

It is not clear if this bleed was specifically caused by a condition called vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT), which causes dangerous blood clots to form in various parts of the body, including the brain.

However, a medic who treated the father-of-two in hospital told an inquest into his death that it was 'fair to say' he would still be alive today if he was given a different vaccine.

Mr Dudley's GP said that given his age, lack of underlying conditions and the medical advice at the time, it was appropriate to give him AstraZeneca's jab. Coroner Tanyka Rawden recorded his cause of death as a bleed on the brain, caused by the vaccine.

Jack Hurn, 26 

Jack Hurn, from Redditch in Worcestershire, died from 'catastrophic' blood clots after receiving AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine.

The 26-year-old died in June 2021, less than two weeks after receiving the jab at a Dudley vaccine centre.

A week-long inquest at Birmingham Coroner's Court heard that a GP informed Mr Hurn the risk of blood clots on the brain for his age group was one in 250,000, when NHS guidance had actually estimated it to be one in 50,000.

The inquest heard the automotive design graduate chose to go ahead with the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine on May 29, 2021, after being told there was no Pfizer jab in stock. 

Mr Hurn, originally from Devon, began suffering with headaches within days and died on June 11 at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital, despite emergency surgery. 

Doctors allegedly described him as having 'catastrophic' blood clots on the brain.  

Emma Brown, Coroner for Birmingham and Solihull, ruled in a report that his death was 'due to a rare but recognised complication' of the vaccination.

Alpa Tailor, 35 

Mother-of-two Alpa Tailor, 35, died from blood clots on her brain caused by the AstraZeneca vaccine. 

Alpa fell ill just over a week after getting her first dose of the coronavirus jab in March 2021.

The 30-plus age group was not called forward for Covid vaccine until late May that year.

It is not clear if Ms Tailor was called forward for a jab early or if she was able to get a jab early in the area. 

St Pancras Coroner's Court heard that Ms Tailor was complaining of a headache before she suffered stroke-like symptoms, including slurred speech and a facial droop.

She was rushed to hospital on April 8 and quickly diagnosed with the then-new complication VITT.

Alpa had surgery to relieve pressure on her brain and, whilst doctors initially thought she had responded well to treatment, on April 22, medics discovered she was suffering from massive brain haemorrhaging.

The devoted mother, who had the jab to 'protect her family', died on April 24 and a post-mortem examination found she had suffered multiple brain clots. 

Kelly Dunley, 38 

Kelly Dunley, 38, died after developing a deep vein thrombosis — a type of blood clot — after receiving the AstraZeneca Covid jab, a coroner ruled.

Ms Dunley, from Stoke-on-Trent, had her first jab on March 2, 2021. 

The 30-plus age group was not called forward for Covid vaccine until late May that year.

It is not clear if Ms Dunley was called forward for a jab early or if she was able to get a jab early in the area. 

She was rushed to Royal Stoke University Hospital on May 17 that year after collapsing. 

Despite the efforts of medics, she died at the hospital on the same day. A post-mortem found a blood clot in her leg had travelled to her lung. 

The examination also found that she had a laceration to her liver, which was likely caused by the attempted resuscitation, and an abnormal spleen. 

A coroner ruled in June 2022 that her death was a pulmonary embolism caused by deep vein thrombosis and was linked to 'complications of the vaccine'. 

Nicola Weideling, 45

Nicola Weideling died of a stroke attributed to the AstraZeneca jab.

The 45-year-old Oxford University Press executive suffered catastrophic bleeds on her brain after being hospitalised with blood clots caused by the vaccine.

She received the jab 24 days prior on April 21. 

Her husband, Kurt, paid tribute to her during an inquest into her death saying she was 'a supporter and believer in getting vaccinated. She went on the first or second day she was eligible for her age group to get vaccinated'. 

Ms Weideling had complained to her GP following her jab about neck pain but the link to jab was not made until she was taken to hospital with several other symptoms of blood clots. 

A post-mortem examination showed Ms Weideling died on May 15, 2021 after suffering a stroke caused by VITT.

Oli Akram Hoque, 26 

Oli Akram Hoque, 26, from Ilford, East London, died from a rare blood clot weeks after taking the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The trainee solicitor received his first dose on March 19, 2021, before suffering increasingly 'excruciating' headaches and vomiting blood.

People in their late 20s were not called forward for the initial jab rollout until June.

It is unclear if Mr Hoque was called in for a jab early or if he was able to get a vaccine sooner than expected in his area.  

He died at Queen's Hospital in Romford on April 15, 2021 — one month before his 27th birthday.

His father told an inquest that Mr Hoque had gone to the urgent treatment centre located at the Royal London Hospital on April 5.

However, he claimed his son was was 'discharged without proper diagnosis or investigation' with an injection to stop him being sick. 

His father also said Mr Hoque had 'requested a scan to be carried out but his request was declined'.

He later had a seizure and was taken back to Queen's Hospital where a CT scan identified a blood clot. He was then put on blood thinners but later died in hospital.

A coroner concluded in October 2022 that he died as a result of the  'very rare complication' caused by the Covid-19 vaccine.

Stephen Wright, 32

Dr Stephen Wright, 32, who worked as a clinical psychologist in South East London, suffered a blood clot in the brain after having his first dose of the jab in January 2021. 

He was among the earliest groups of people to be given the vaccine during the pandemic.

Dr Wright suffered from a combination of a brainstem infarction, bleed on the brain and 'vaccine-induced thrombosis'.

He was taken to Princess Royal University Hospital in Orpington and moved to King's College Hospital as his condition rapidly worsened. But the nature of the bleed meant Dr Wright was unfit for surgery. He died on the evening of January 26.

Regarding the official documents detailing Dr Wright's death, a coroner said: 'It is very important to record as fact that it is the AstraZeneca vaccine – but that is different from blaming AstraZeneca.

'He attended an A&E department just after midnight where was found to have high blood pressure and a sagittal sinus thrombosis.

'He was transferred to King's College Hospital at 6.39am but, due to the extent of the bleed and very low platelets, was unfit for surgery.'

Medical experts told the court nothing could be done to save him as his condition quickly worsened. 

Jack Last, 27

Jack Last, a 27-year-old man from Stowmarket, Suffolk, was vaccinated with the AstraZeneca jab on March 30, 2021.

But a week later, he was admitted to hospital after experiencing headaches and sickness.

A subsequent scan revealed the engineer had a cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, a type of blood clot in the brain, and he died on April 10. 

People in their late 20s were not called forward for the initial jab rollout until June.

It is unclear why Mr Last was called in early to get a jab. 

A coroner investigating his passing ruled that he died from a reaction to the AstraZeneca vaccine. 

Michelle Barlow, 51 

Michelle Barlow, a 'fit and healthy' mother-of-two from Wigan, died from blood clots caused by the AstraZeneca vaccine in March 2021. 

The 51-year-old began suffering headaches and nausea about a week after receiving her first dose of the jab.

She was eventually admitted to hospital but died later that month. 

Mrs Barlow, who worked as a civil servant for the Department of Work and Pensions for 34 years, was found to have suffered multiple organ failure caused by VITT.

Her family were unable to see her in hospital for most of the time she was there due to Covid restrictions.

A coroner said in November 2021 that she died from 'unrecognised' complications after having the Covid vaccine - and was wrongly diagnosed with gastroenteritis.

Zion, 48

A rock singer, who called himself Zion XXX , suffered a 'catastrophic brain injury' from a rare complication triggered by the AstraZeneca jab. 

The 48-year-old had an agonising headache on May 13, 2021, eight days after getting his first dose.

He later died at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on May 19. 

An inquest held at Newcastle Coroner's Court in August 2022 heard how his condition severely deteriorated in the days after his headaches began.

A paramedic who was first called to Zion's home in Alston, Cumbria, on May 15, 2021, gave evidence at the inquest and said Zion was 'alert and sat up' when she arrived. 

She told the hearing that she advised Zion to go to hospital for further checks, but he said he did not want to go for fear of catching Covid.

Vikki Spit, Zion's fiancé and

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