When Nancy Daamen’s beloved nephew passed away from COVID-19 last month, she immediately lost patience with COVID deniers.
She said she couldn’t accept the fake news being posted on social media, so she started removing people from her friends list.
“I couldn’t look at him anymore.”
She said it was painful to know that friends and family were spreading “disinformation which I know could very well result in the deaths of other people.”
Miles Copeland died of COVID-19 on October 11. He was 47 years old.
Eight days later Daamen tweeted: “If what happened to our family doesn’t change their mind, I don’t know what will change and reading their nonsense hurts right now. Family, friends … people that I’ve known for 30 minutes or 30 years. I can’t. “
Daamen and Copeland were born within months of each other and grew up together in the Chipman area, about 100 kilometers northeast of Fredericton. They completed high school together and Copeland even lived with Daamen’s family for a while.
“He was probably one of my best friends in the world. I always said he was my brother from another mother.”
She said Copeland was a well-respected tradesperson, “a Christmas lover and damn good homemade bread maker. He was fun-loving, was energetic. He could be quite silly at times and could also be incredibly stubborn. “
Just before Thanksgiving, he collapsed at his Edmonton home and had to be taken to hospital by ambulance. He was put on a ventilator, but his condition continued to worsen.
Daamen said she felt helpless to be so far away, having to wait for other family members to update her on her condition.
He died on Thanksgiving morning.
Vaccine hesitant
Daamen said her nephew was a healthy 47-year-old man who did not smoke and do not take drugs.
“That’s kind of the point we want to take home… it can really happen to anyone. And you won’t see it until it’s too late,” Daamen said.
“Nobody thinks it’s going to happen to them until it does. And then, once it’s done, it’s done. You can’t take it back. You can’t fix it.”
After I published an article about his death, the negative messages started to arrive.
Some have denied the existence of COVID-19. Others have claimed that as many people die from the vaccine as from the disease.
If you’re too important to someone in your life to risk your life, take the plunge. To get vaccinated.-Nancy Daamen
“Well, no, they don’t,” Daamen said. “And you know, people have to stop broadcasting this because that’s the kind of information people take to heart and then make bad choices.”
Daamen said Copeland was “hesitant about vaccination like a lot of people”.
She said he believed if he got infected he would get over it.
Daamen said a “handful” of people had contacted her and explained to her that they were previously hesitant to get the shot, but booked their first injections after hearing what had happened to Copeland.
Others share her story with those who have not been vaccinated in an effort to prevent this from happening to someone else.
Daamen said there have been a lot of tears over the past month and everyone is grieving in their own way.
Copeland’s 19-year-old son Chase got a tattoo on Wednesday in honor of his father.
“It’s beautiful, I’m sure [Miles] would have absolutely loved it, ”Daamen said.
“This is actually a quote from the song Patience by Guns N ‘Roses. And he said, ‘All we need is a little patience.’ “
Daamen wants people to remember that getting the vaccine isn’t just for themselves. It also protects loved ones from the bereavement of an important person in their life.
“If you are too important to someone in your life to put your life at risk, take the plunge. Get vaccinated. Do everything you can to protect not only yourself, but also your family, from having to suffer a loss like this for no real reason. “
