‘No Covid jab link’ to dad’s death

THE family of Cherbourg elder Uncle Bevan Costello have pushed back against antivaxxers who are using his death to push their agenda, while the community faces a potential crisis due to low vaccination rates.

Uncle Bevan’s son and Cherbourg councillor Leighton Costello said it was important for the community to know his father died from a heart attack on September 15 after weeks of poor health.

Speculation on social media suggested Uncle Bevan’s death was related to the fact he had his second Covid jab in the week before his death, but his grieving son said there was absolutely no correlation between the two events.

“My father did not pass away from the Covid-19 vaccination. He had a history of chronic illness and was ill for a few weeks leading up to his death, and sadly passed away from natural causes, which was a heart attack,” Mr Costello said.

“He was a chronically-ill man. He had health issues leading up to his death and I’m satisfied with the coroner’s reports and his medical certificate that he died of natural causes.”

Mr Costello said his father would be “turning in his grave” if he knew his death was being used to push the anti-vax agenda.

He said he and his family were still grieving, but chose to make a statement out of necessity to silence the trolls on social media.

Mr Costello said the unfortunate timing of his father’s death had a negative impact on the community’s perception of the vaccine.

“He was a passionate elder in this community and wanted everyone to be safe. He set up a platform for me to keep going and keep advocating to keep our community safe,” he said.