Anti-Vaxxer Who Convinced COVID-19 Patient To Leave Hospital Arrested
KEY POINTS
- Antonio Mureddu was charged in connection to the death of Joe McCarron
- Mureddu helped remove McCarron from Letterkenny Hospital in September 2021
- McCarron returned to the hospital, and died on Sept. 24, 2021
An anti-vaxxer in Ireland was arrested for convincing a COVID-19 patient to leave a hospital, which led to the latter's death a few days later.
Anti-vaxxer Antonio Mureddu, who also goes by Antonio Gravegliu, was arrested Monday in Co Donegal, a county in Ireland, and charged in connection to the death of Joe McCarron.
Mureddu helped remove McCarron from Letterkenny Hospital in September 2021. He encouraged McCarron to leave the facility, saying the hospital staff would "kill" him if he stayed.
A video of the incident subsequently went viral on Twitter. The video showed staff at the hospital encouraging McCarron, who was visibly struggling to breathe, to remain at the hospital as it gave him the best chance of survival.
However, Mureddu continued to claim McCarron was "endangering" his life by staying at the hospital.
"We are saving Joe's life," Mureddu says in the video. "Today is a winning day for Ireland."
He goes on to thank Dr. Dolores Cahill, a prominent figure in Ireland’s anti-vaccination movement.
In the video, which went viral, a doctor pleads with McCarron to stay in the hospital: “You have the right to decide what you want to do. You’re barely able to breathe. We want you to stay to help you.”
Mureddu, who was wearing a mask under his chin, tells McCarron, “If you stay here, they going to f****** kill you, Joe.”
“I’m very worried about you,” the doctor tells McCarron. “I want you to stay, I think he is saying something very dangerous. What he is saying is wrong and very dangerous.” The doctor added: “I’m not lying to you, you could die.”
“It’s better if you die in the house,” Mureddu tells Joe.
However, within days of his exit, McCarron returned to the hospital.
"Joe is still in a critical but stable condition. He has serious lung damage from Covid-19 and is on a ventilator, but the signs are good," his family said in a statement at the time, according to Irish Central. "Una (Joe's wife) would like to thank the staff and apologize for the actions of Joe’s so-called reckless friends earlier in the week."
"They did not help Joe’s recovery in any way. We would encourage everyone to follow proper medical advice," she added.
McCarron died in the hospital on Sept. 24, 2021.
Ireland's Department of Health announced Monday there were 28,000 new cases of COVID-19 in the country. Last week, the department made the decision to report COVID-19 case numbers from Monday to Friday only. The number given out Monday will include weekend figures. On Monday, the department was notified of 28,166 positive COVID-19 cases from over the past three days, according to Dublin Live.
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