1. Home
  2.  » 
  3. Health
  4.  » 
  5. Coronavirus
  6.  » Conor was happy and healthy until he lined up for his Covid vaccines. Now he can’t work, spends most of his time at home… and will never forget a doctor’s five-word response to his ordeal

David Southwell – The Daily Mail, Australia Jan 19, 2025

A young man claims he was so driven to despair by debilitating heart issues he suffered after having the Covid vaccines that he almost took his own life.

Despite seeing numerous cardiologists and being checked into hospital with a diagnosis of pericarditis following his second Pfizer vaccine, Conor Briggs, 26, said he was offered nothing to deal with the condition except anti-depressants.

Mr Briggs said the pericarditis, which is inflammation of the sac-like tissue surrounding the heart called the pericardium, was making his life hell.

‘There were some nights where I just wouldn’t sleep because of the feeling that someone was standing on my chest, or squeezing the top of my lungs,’ he said.

‘I couldn’t lie flat. The position of going flat puts your heart in a position that makes it hard to breathe.’

Doctors told Mr Briggs his condition was not serious enough for compensation from the now closed Commonwealth scheme.

He has now joined a class action led by Dr Melissa McCann which is suing Australian health authorities and associated prominent individuals for failing in their duty of care towards the vaccine injured.

Before taking the vaccines at the age of 23, Mr Briggs was working in property leasing, studying IT at university and said he was the healthiest he had ever been, running up to 10km every day.

‘I was taking my health a lot more seriously, eating healthily, going to the gym and all that,’ he said.

‘My arms were double the muscle I have now.’

Even though the Covid vaccines were not mandated for his work, Mr Briggs said he felt pressured to get them.

‘My boss was every second day going “hey, are you going to get the shots?”, everyone else at work was basically going on about it every day,’ Mr Briggs said.

Before getting his first Covid shot on September 17, 2021, Mr Briggs said he had no particular concerns despite seeing some media reports about people suffering blood clots and heart issues after having them.

‘I didn’t look into the safety of the vaccines because I thought “the doctors know what they are talking about”,’ he said.

‘I didn’t have any reason not to trust them. I thought I was actually doing a good thing.’

A few hours after getting the first injection Mr Briggs began experiencing a moderate tightness in his chest and breathing issues.

Continues …