In his own words
“I’m not a doctor. But I know what my body was telling me.”
Chef for thirty years. Father of six. He was 44 when his heart stopped, and he has spent the years since trying to get anyone to write down what happened to him.
Story 01 — Spike Survivor
Jason
What he said
Taken from his filmed interview, 11 October 2026. Lightly trimmed for length. Nothing added.
“Hi. My name is Jason. I’m 50 years old. I’ve been a chef for 30 years, and I’m a father of six.”
“I’ve always been very active. You’re on your feet for eight or ten hours a day. And then when I get home, I’m working in the yard, out on the tractor, working on my cars. If I can help it, I’d rather be outdoors.”
On deciding to get it
“My understanding was I needed to get this vaccine or it was going to kill me, ultimately. I was 44. I didn’t want to die. So that was supposedly what was going to save me.”
“I did everything they recommended. We had masks made for us. We sanitized. We stood six feet away. We did everything they told us we were supposed to do.”
The second dose
“Within four hours of getting the second vaccine, I was starting to have symptoms, and it was clear to me that it was related.”
“I was cleaning my gutters. I got off the ladder and I told Charity, my wife, something’s wrong, I’m going to go lay down. Cold sweats. My jaw locked up. I knew in my heart there’s no way this is normal.”
“I finally told Charity. I said, I’m not going to make it much longer. I need to go to the doctor.”
The hospital
“Something on that EKG didn’t sit right with him. The cardiologist rushed to the hospital, and a few minutes later I was in the operating room.”
“The doctor said, for lack of a better term, you had what was called a widowmaker. Nine out of ten people that this happened to never make it out of their house.”
“I woke up the next morning and I said to my dad — I’m the youngest one in here. Everybody else around me was in their 60s, 70s, 80s. And here I was.”
“If you think of your heart as a V8 engine, right now you’re running on four cylinders. If I ever got to five or six, I’d be doing pretty good. But I’d never get back to eight.”
Since
“Nobody will accept or deny that it had anything to do with the shot. I know it did. Even if nobody wants to admit it. I’m not a doctor. But I know what my body was telling me.”
“As of today, I’ve never received any confirmation. I’ve never received any compensation. It’s buried me in hospital bills. I’m on seven different medications twice a day.”
“It took three years for them to deny it. But they denied it.”
“MyChart still sends me notifications that I’m overdue for the next shot.”
“Nobody told me that there was a risk of heart attack. Had I known, I might have second guessed it. I might have taken my chances. But I was never told.”
“I didn’t ask for this. I still make the best of it. But it’s just what I have to deal with now.”
Why he sat down
“My hope is that if enough people speak out about this, something will be done. Because it’s not fair, what’s happened.”