‘Healthy’ father died from COVID-19 complications after choosing to not get the vaccine, believing he could not get ill because he exercised five times a week; his family pays tribute

The 40-year-old man died from COVID-19 complications after refusing to be vaccinated. His family said the man chose to not get the Coronavirus vaccine, believing he couldn’t get sick because he exercised 5 times a week. According to his family and friends, when the man fell ill, he reportedly said he regretted being ignorant about vaccines. When he was in the hospital, he said that he had listened to social media and conspiracy theories online and urged others to get vaccinated.

The 40-year-old man, Marcus Birks, died last August after choosing to not get the COVID-19 vaccine. The 40-year-old man believed he could not get ill because he exercised 5 times a week, the Daily Mail Reports.

According to his family, Birks said he regretted being ignorant about vaccines. When he was in the hospital, the 40-year-old man said he had listened to social media and conspiracy theories online and urged others to get vaccinated.

Unfortunately, the healthy father died in August before he got to meet his son, Blu Marcus, who was born in December.

Birks’ younger brother, Ashley Birks, told the Daily Mail: “Marcus was like light in a bottle. He wanted everything that life had to give and lived in the moment. We were really close. We spent most days together. He lived for his family and nothing else.

Losing him happened out of nowhere, it happened so fast. He and his wife had renewed their wedding vows and around that time a lot of people in our circle got COVID. I had it too. I spoke to him every day while I was ill. Around day eight I was starting to feel better, but he wasn’t. 

I told him any day now he should be getting back on his feet. Later that same day he had the ambulance out due to his oxygen levels being low. From there he got worse while he was in hospital. The treatments weren’t working. Right up until he passed I still thought he would get better. We still don’t really know why it went that way when Marcus was so healthy.

It gets to the point where you can’t dwell on it. He wouldn’t want us to do that. It has been really hard and there are different forms of grief that we are still going through, but we are trying to keep it positive going forward, especially for his son and his wife.”

His younger brother also said that Marcus was a father-figure to him as well as a brother. He was his best friend and a role model. Marcus was the head of the family, he said. Ashley also said that Marcus’ son Blu looks just like his dad. ‘Having him is like having a piece of Marcus still here.’ he said.

Ashley Birks also said: We want to make sure he’s remembered and do something positive. As a teenager Marcus suffered with his mental health and anxiety, and over the years he learned to combat that and have a positive mindset. He became an advocate for mental health through his own journey so Mind is a fitting charity for us to raise money for.”

His family paid tribute to the 40-year-old man as they prepare to take on a challenge to raise money for charity in his memory. “Please help us to raise some much needed funds for this brilliant charity and to remember Marcus life.” the fundraising page wrote.