Unvaxxed Albertan fights for her life
Episode Stats
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150.35489
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Summary
Rachel interviews Sheila Annette Lewis, an international citizen who is fighting to get her back on the organ donor list in Canada. She has been on the Alberta Appeal Court and the Supreme Court of Canada, but both have refused to hear her case. Now, she has found a potential donor in the United States, and is working to raise enough money to pay for her first round of testing.
Transcript
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So I will fight as long as I can and do what I can to fight for myself and the rest of Canada,
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for the other people that need these surgeries as well.
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Hey everyone, welcome back to the Alberta Roundup.
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I have Sheila Annette Lewis with me on the program.
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We have been following her story very closely on the show over the last couple of months
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and I am very excited to have the opportunity to interview her.
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And I know that you guys are going to be interested in hearing more about her case.
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Sheila, thank you so much for joining me today.
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So Sheila, we know that your efforts to basically get back on the organ donor transplant list in Canada
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You obviously have taken this up to the Alberta Appeal Court
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and then you even sought to have the Supreme Court of Canada hear your case.
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I have to say, were you surprised when you heard that they were not going to hear your case?
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Did you expect that it would be taken up to the Supreme Court?
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And I was surprised that the Supreme Court acted on it so quickly as well.
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I was expecting it to take a while for them to make a decision on my case.
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And were you given any details as to why your case was rejected or just a flat,
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For the Supreme Court of Canada, it was just, it just come back that it was,
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So since that happened, there's also been another very positive development in your story.
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Now we have learned that a U.S. hospital is actually willing to give you the organ transplant that you need.
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I'm just wondering if you'd be willing to share some details with us about which hospital that is
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and how you actually got in touch with them and were able to get on their transplant list
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Well, we called different organizations in the United States.
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The people behind the scenes that are helping me, they did a lot of cold calls themselves.
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And then we came across, this was on the list that was given to us by the United States
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of some possible hospitals that might be willing to do it.
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So when we contacted Texas, they said they didn't see any reason why not.
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But we would have to, you know, work on it and figure out from then if I was even a possible candidate.
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They've already told us how much it would cost for the testing to get done to see if I was still healthy enough,
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my organs were healthy enough to even get on the donor list.
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So I sent all the medical records down to them, and that's what they're reviewing now.
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They also created a file for me, of course, at the hospital.
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I also was speaking to a doctor yesterday on Zoom from the Texas hospital, and they have a board meeting on Thursdays.
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So on Thursday tomorrow, they will present my case in front of the board, and we're going to go from there.
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And depending on what the board says tomorrow, with the information that they have, depending on the next steps.
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Okay, so it sounds like Thursday will be a pretty big day for you in terms of getting that answer.
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Meanwhile, they're also reviewing your documents.
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We know that currently you're in the process of fundraising $100,000 USD to get that first step of testing that you need.
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When we spoke on the phone, you said you had received testing when you were in Canada,
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but they stopped testing you about two years ago when you refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
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It's at about $87,000 just over as of Wednesday morning when we're filming,
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and it's been climbing pretty steadily over the past week from what I can tell.
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So I feel fairly confident that you'll have that first $100,000 that you need for testing pretty soon.
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Once you have that money, are you able to begin testing in the States right away,
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or do they still have to kind of continue looking through your documents,
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and is there going to be more of a wait period?
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It all depends on what the board is going to say.
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They could, like they told me, they could come back with the dates fairly quickly
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because of the progression of my disease, of course.
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So it all depends on what the board is going to say.
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They are a smaller hospital than what we'd like because being a smaller hospital,
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So like he said, depending on what we're looking for and what we want,
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if we went with a bigger hospital, we would have, you know,
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It's not just jump on the bandwagon on the first one.
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So, but at least we're getting somewhere with it at least.
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And they do give us positive reviews, of course.
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And you've just mentioned that you're waiting to hear from the hospital.
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Does that mean that you feel fairly confident that they will approve your case?
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I'm not going to feel comfortable with anything until I'm there.
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But the old saying goes, you know, nothing is hatched until you crack the egg.
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So I don't want to count my chickens before they're hatched.
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They put me on the transplant list, on the donor list, excuse me.
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I did everything they asked me to do, everything.
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The only thing I didn't was the experimental vaccine.
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So just because somebody tells you something doesn't mean it's actually going to happen, I guess.
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Canada proved that, and which is sad because Canada is our country.
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And who better to believe than our own doctors, our own governments?
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When we talk about this sort of uphill battle and you not wanting to be certain of something before you're actually there,
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obviously you have a very significant amount of money that you need to fundraise.
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But afterwards, I believe it's another half a million that you need to fundraise for the actual transplant itself.
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So a very, very significant amount of money in Canadian dollars.
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It seems like people have been very supportive and very receptive to donating to your cause so far.
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Like they really are, Canadians are really, really, really coming through.
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And we're also getting donations from the United States as well.
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I never, ever, ever dreamed we would even get to where we are today.
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And it's, sometimes it's like it's powerful, it's overwhelming.
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And I sit back sometimes and it really touches the heart.
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There's just no possible way you could ever thank them enough for what they're doing.
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And my hope for this transplant, and my hope was to get a policy overturned.
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And that's what was the purpose of the courts, was to overturn the policy.
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So many more Canadians would be able to get the transplant that I hoped I would be able to get.
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And it wasn't just about me, and it's still not about me.
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And all Canadians are suffering the same way I am.
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But they're forcing a hand where they're making it just one person.
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And I have natural immunity in very high levels of it.
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And to require still a booster, like they're saying.
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Why am I still required to get a booster when I have natural immunity?
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I mean, I'm sure I'm not the only person that knows everything that's going on with this vaccine.
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How many families do they got to destroy before somebody steps up and stops us?
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Another question that I had about your case is that, you know, the organ that you actually need,
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as well as the names of the doctors that you were working with here in Alberta,
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as well as the hospital that you were working with, all of that is under a publication ban.
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The court really sought to protect those doctors for the decision that they made in denying you this organ transplant.
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Has it been difficult to explain to people exactly what's going on when there's so much that news outlets can't cover?
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I mean, it wasn't enough that they come back and they said they had a policy.
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They said, the doctor had said to me on the phone, on the Zoom, that we have to make a decision.
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We have to sit down as a team and we have to go over whether we're going to ask or make people that need transplants,
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So in a couple weeks after that, they got back to me and they said, we made a decision.
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So when I forced their hand and I asked them for the policy, a copy of it, they refused it.
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Then I wrote them a letter in November and I said, there's not a policy.
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It's strongly recommended that I get the vaccine.
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But when they first told me they made the decision, it was in March.
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But in November of the same year, they finally got a policy because I was asking to see a copy of it.
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So it's sad that the courts put the gag order on me, which they wanted, the doctors wanted, and asked for,
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If they were speaking the truth about everything, which I know now they weren't, through testimony and what was ignored in the courts,
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it's really sad that they had to put a publication ban on me or a gag order, whatever we want to call it.
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But if they were speaking the truth, what did they have to worry about?
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Well, I have to say that their attempts to silence you certainly have not been successful.
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That kind of brings me to my last question here.
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Something that I've been so struck by in this story, and I know that has really resonated with my audience as well,
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is your resilience, your ability to continue pushing through this and to fight for what you know is right,
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Have you wanted to really just give up at any points?
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There's lots of times that, you know, I'm sitting here, and I'm thinking, and it's quiet, and I'm by myself.
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You know, it's late at night, and I can't sleep for one reason or another.
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It's not going to get me nowhere, and it's not going to get anybody else anywhere.
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But at the same time, the truth needs to come out.
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And if I just stop at all, which they want me to, these doctors, they want me to go away.
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Like they used to ask me in the Zoom calls at the end, they would say when they called,
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oh, you're still hanging in, I see, because I answered the phone.
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So I will fight as long as I can and do what I can to fight for myself and the rest of Canada,
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for the other people that need these surgeries as well.
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But, yes, there's times it gets tough, like really tough, especially when it's hard to breathe.
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And there's a lot of times when I exert myself, when I get up to do something, even with the third machine.
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I never was one to give up before, so I ain't going to start now.
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Well, Sheila, thank you so much for coming on today and sharing a little bit of your story and your journey with us.
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I know that me and my viewers, we are behind you 100%.
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And I know a lot of people were really excited to be able to support your fundraiser.
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And we will continue to follow your story with interest.
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And you'll just be in our prayers and we are rooting for you 100%.
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Yes, we have the fundraiser website and it's been linked in my previous shows and we'll link it in this episode below as well.
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Okay, then, Rachel, thank you very much for having me on your show today.
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And thank you to everyone that is helping with this movement and sending prayers and, you know, have support for me and inboxing me.
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I get a lot of them and I try to, I try to do as many as I can every day, but, but thank you for your support, Rachel.
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Okay, guys, thank you so much for joining me on this special episode of the Alberta Roundup.
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It was so touching to hear from Ms. Lewis and to hear a little bit about her story and hopefully we can have her on again for another positive update in a couple weeks or months.
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For those of you who want to go find the GoFundMe page right now, you can find that at givesengo.com slash g-a-m-m-5.
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Okay, guys, I will see you on Saturday for our usual episode of the Alberta Roundup.