His father says ‘my son has gone to the edge of death to stick to his guns’
- Father-of-two DJ Ferguson, 31, has been taken off the donor list for a life-saving heart transplant because he hasn’t gotten vaccinated against COVID-19
-  Boston Brigham and Women’s Hospital said their aim is to ‘create both the best chance for successful operation and the patient’s survival after transplantation’
-  Being unvaccinated, along with other risk factors like being a cigarette smoker, can make patients ineligible for transplantsÂ
- But according to his father, Ferguson ‘doesn’t believe’ in the vaccine, and getting vaccinated is ‘against his principles’
- ‘My son has gone to the edge of death to stick to his guns and he’s been pushed to the limit,’ he told news outletsÂ
An unvaccinated and gravely ill 31-year-old father-of-two has been taken off the donor list for a heart transplant by a Boston hospital because he ‘does not believe’ in the COVID vaccine.
DJ Ferguson, who has a hereditary heart condition that causes his lungs and heart to fill with blood and fluid, was denied the life-saving organ transplant by Boston Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.
The hospital said it removed Ferguson from the donor list because all transplant recipients need to get the vaccine in order to ‘create both the best chance for successful operation and also the patient’s survival after transplantation.’
However, Ferguson’s father, David, said getting vaccinated is ‘kind of against his basic principles’ and that his son ‘doesn’t believe in it.’
‘I think my boy is fighting pretty damn courageously and he has integrity and principles he really believes in and that makes me respect him all the more… It’s his body. It’s his choice.’
The hospital, which has a list of protocols for transplant candidates that includes a ban on lifestyle choices like smoking and alcohol, said requiring the COVID vaccine is common at many medical center’s throughout the country.
The mortality rate for transplant recipients who fall ill with COVID is more than 20 percent, according to UCHealth.
