A man turned down a life-saving kidney transplant over his hospital's vaccination policy, saying he 'will die free'
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- Chad Carswell was told by doctors he needs a kidney transplant to live, WSOC reported.
- But the hospital said he and his donor must be fully vaccinated for the transplant to happen, WSOC said.
- Carswell turned down the surgery over the vaccination policy, saying: "I will die free."
An unvaccinated North Carolina man turned down a life-saving kidney transplant over a hospital's vaccination policy, telling WSOC he will "die free."
Chad Carswell, who is a double amputee and has undergone major heart surgeries, told WSOC that he needs dialysis three times a week because his kidney is working at only 4%.
He said doctors at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem told him that he needed a kidney transplant to live.
But the hospital said that in order to receive the surgery, Carswell and his donor must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, WSOC reported.
Carswell decided to turn down the surgery instead, telling WSOC: "I was born free. I will die free. I'm not changing my mind."
"I've had conversations with my family and everybody that's close to me. They know where I stand, and it'll not be a situation that occurs that I will choose to change my mind on this topic."
Carswell said he stands by his decision and is now looking at other hospitals to see if they will perform the surgery without the vaccination requirement.
A spokesperson for the hospital told Insider in a statement: "Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist's policy follows the current standard of care in the United States, which is to vaccinate all patients on waiting lists or being evaluated for transplant."
Transplant patients are at high risk for severe illness if they don't have preexisting immunity prior to being transplanted, Dr. Alyssa Burgart, a transplant anesthesiologist and bioethicist at Stanford University previously told Insider.
"A patient's ability to fight off a lot of diseases can be compromised. And so for many transplant programs, [vaccination] is seen as a way to protect the patient and the organ."
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