(LifeSiteNews) – A man from British Columbia became one of the first in Canada to receive federal financial compensation due to a COVID vaccine injury.
Ross Wightman received the AstraZeneca shot last year in April, and shortly after became totally paralyzed. He was subsequently diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS).
Before this, he worked as a real estate agent and pilot, but now struggles to walk.
According to Wightman, he first experienced severe back pain 10 days after getting the COVID jab. He had to visit the emergency room multiple times and was finally admitted to the hospital once he felt tingling in his face.
“I had full facial paralysis,” said Wightman, as reported by the National Post.
“I could blink, but I couldn’t smile or show my teeth at all and had paralysis from the waist down as well.”
Wightman spent over two months in the hospital before being allowed to recover at home.
GBS is a degenerative nerve disorder that can cause an autoimmune condition leading to “devastating paralysis.”
A new study from the United Kingdom has shown that AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 injection is linked with a significant increase in GBS between two and four weeks after it is administered.
On May 25, Wightman shared on Facebook a letter he received from Canada’s newly created Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP).
The letter notified Wightman that VISP had concluded his injuries were more than likely to have been related to the one AstraZeneca shot he received. The VISP program also said that he was eligible for financial compensation.
“First and foremost, we would like to offer you our deepest sympathies for your ongoing health struggles. We wish you the strength and support to sustain you during this difficult time and wish to thank you for submitting a claim with the VISP,” the letter reads.
“Following an assessment of your case, it has been determined by our Medical Review Board that there is a probable causal association between the injury(ies) sustained and the vaccination. As such, your claim has been approved for compensation.”
Months-long process to get financial compensation
Wightman’s road to receiving compensation has been long. He applied for the VISP compensation last summer with the help of his wife.
According to Wightman, his recovery has not been smooth. He can now only go for a “slow 40-minute walk” before tiring.
“It’s a far cry from where I was before,” Wightman noted.
According to VISP, there have been 400 people who have applied to the program for compensation from June 2021 until November 30, 2021.
However, less than five people have been known to be approved for compensation thus far.
Under VISP, a person can receive a maximum lump sum of $284,000. Wightman would not say how much he will get, only noting it was not even close to the full amount.
According to a CTV news report, Wightman is eligible for up to $90,000 per year.
Canada was one of only a handful of nations that did not have a vaccine injury compensation program until the COVID injections were approved for use in late 2020.
In December 2020, VISP was launched after the Canadian government gave vaccine makers a shield from liability regarding COVID-19 jab-related injuries.
According to the VISP website, the program is being administered and delivered “independently” by the Canadian accounting and tax firm Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton, with funding from Canada’s Public Health Agency.
Canadian mainstream media for months barely mentioned the now known fact that the COVID jabs approved for use in Canada and elsewhere are all linked to possible, and sometimes even fatal, side effects.
To submit a claim, applicants or those authorized to do so if their loved one has died from a jab must work in conjunction with the physician who “assessed the injury,” and who is required to produce a long list of documentation.
Information required includes physician and patient contact information, vaccine information, patient medical history, and a report from the first medical consultation.
According to VISP, a claimant’s application will be reviewed by a committee made up of three physicians who will review the “claimants’ medical records to determine if a probable link exists between the injury and the vaccine.”
It should be noted that CBC, Canada’s state broadcaster, did run a story on Wightman’s plight with vaccine injury, and then his compensation.
In the CBC report, Wightman said he does not think his compensation was sufficient and was “disappointing.”
He plans on appealing his payout amount as his initial approval did not take into account vision issues and a loss of feeling in his feet.
Wightman says a number of his symptoms, including loss of feeling in his feet and vision impairments, weren’t included in his injury benefit assessment, so he plans to appeal to the program’s medical review board. He says he’s also seeking legal advice.
Most Canadian provinces quietly stopped administering the AstraZeneca vaccine only a few months after it was approved for use.
In fact, in March 2021, Canada stopped the distribution of the jab from being given to people under age 55, after numerous reports indicating the product may be linked to blood clots.
At a COVID vaccine hearing in February held by U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, lawyer Thomas Renz presented medical billing data from the Pentagon’s Defense Medical Epidemiology Database that showed drastic spikes in Guillain-Barre syndrome (551%) in 2021.