HERRIN, Ill. (WSIL) -- Vaccine hesitancy backfired for one local family.
Brothers Steve and Shannon Wimberly survived the pandemic and were waiting to see how the vaccine played out before taking it. That was until one of them got the virus.
"Shannon's a wonderful guy," Steven Wimberly said. "He's well liked by everybody he meets."
Herrin resident Shannon Wimberly is an artist and musician. He's creative behind the camera as a real estate photographer and filmmaker.
Steven spoke to News 3 from Kansas where he lives with their mother.
He spent weeks being his brother's advocate in the hospital as he struggled with COVID-19.
"He got nasal drip and thought it was allergies," Steven Wimberly said.
That was mid-April. Now six weeks later it's a different story.
"The covid cough is something you'll never forget," Steven Wimberly said. "The coughing was so extreme his whole body was going up and down like a seizure."
Now Shannon is trying to teach his lungs to breath again off of a ventilator. His baby brother Steven hoping to hear his voice again.
"It's really heart wrenching to see him in the state his in right now. I can't begin to describe what it's like in the hospital room with him in the ICU. It's something. It's made me a believer how bad this disease is," Steven Wimberly said.
Both Shannon and Steve had vaccine hesitancy. They got through a year of the pandemic without getting sick and they were tired of hearing the political rhetoric.
"Unfortunately, a lot of our leading health authorities have become polorizing and that has fed into the skepticsm about the safety of the vaccines," Steven Wimberly said. "I believe he was one of the people who wanted to wait. There was concern about how fast the vaccine was developed and deployed."
That all changed seeing his brother's struggle.
"So I have no hesitation, at this point, to (get the shot) since I have seen first hand what COVID actually does. I mean, my brother has a tracheostomy. He has a hole (in his throat) to breath. and they can hook up a ventilator. He has dialysis and he has a feeding tube."
Steven Wimberly said his brother suffers from Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, intense inflammation in his lungs that interfere with getting oxygen in the blood.
Steven is getting his second Pfizer shot on Monday. His brother Shannon has a long road ahead of him. He's on dialysis because of COVID-19 complications.
There is a to help the family with hospital expenses.
Almost half of COVID patients leave the hospital with some loss of their physical abilities.
That's according to a
They're often referred to as COVID long-haulers- sometimes they have to go to rehab because of the loss of their physical functions.
The COVID vaccines on the market right now have shown to be 75 to 95 percent effective, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
They keep you from getting a severe case that could hospitalize you in some cases, the vaccine can prevent death and keep you from transferring the virus.
For more information, .
