Colwood mother speaks out after her unvaccinated son dies from COVID-19

Colwood mother speaks out after her unvaccinated son dies from COVID-19
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Langford man Sean Fletcher, 48, was taken off life support a day after his 48th birthday due to COVID-related complications.

Langford’s Sean Fletcher used to enjoy kicking soccer balls out to his son.

A devoted father of four, the 48-year-old spent as much time as possible with his children.

“They loved going to beaches. The lagoon. They went on day trips. Every single weekend,” says Fletcher’s mother, Barb Thornton.

But in September, shortly after leaving Langford for a well-paying job at an industrial work site in northern B.C., Fletcher became infected with COVID-19.

He was never vaccinated and it was something Thornton had urged her son to do.

“He wasn’t an anti-vaxxer. He just decided that he didn’t need the vaccination. ‘I’m healthy. I’m strong,'” recalled Thornton.

As the days and weeks passed, Fletcher’s condition only got worse and he ended up requiring hospitalization. He was eventually transported from Dawson Creek to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital and later to Vancouver as his condition worsened over the weeks.

By November 2021, Fletcher’s condition was grave and in his last Facebook post, the Langford man wrote that he knew he was in bad shape, but still wanted to see his friends and family.

“I thought it’s a flu … I’ll get over it lol well it still is a flu but it gets us all in different ways,” he wrote.

On Nov. 14, the day after his 48th birthday, doctors took Fletcher off life support and he died. He left behind four children and a wife.

Thornton hopes her son’s story will convince others to get vaccinated before it’s too late.

“When they go out in the mornings, and go to work, go to the gym or wherever they want to go, and haven’t had their COVID shots, they should take a last look at the family. Because it could be their last look at their family.”

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