Like millions of Americans, Mark Green —an Indiana man with an underlying lung condition — did not get his COVID-19 vaccination. Now from his hospital bed, Green is begging others to not make the same mistake he did and get vaccinated before it’s too late.
In July, Green visited his pulmonologist Robert Klinestiver, who encouraged him to get vaccinated due to the risk he faced if he caught the virus that has already taken nearly 700,000 lives in the U.S.
Just a few weeks after, Green was in an intensive care unit as he was fighting against COVID-19 in its harshest form.
“I didn’t take the vaccine myself because I was scared, the unknown, what would happen two or three years down the road,” Green said in between inhaling his oxygen. “Once I got sick, I kind of realized, it didn’t matter what happens down the road. It matters what happens now. … You got to weigh the here and now or maybe never.”
Green said that despite his angst about receiving “one little dose” of the vaccine, he has had “pounds” of medicine put into his body as he described.
With worry about potentially having to be hooked up to a ventilator, Green and his wife Amy have watched the oxygen saturation and heart rate machines with bated breath.
Klinestiver, who visited Green in the hospital, said that the next few days are critical to determine as to whether or not Green’s condition will improve or worsen, according to USA Today.
Given his current situation, Green intends on using his position as a patient suffering from COVID-19 as a way of convincing his fellow Indianans and Americans that are still unsure of getting the vaccine.
“I’m not pro-vaccine. I’m pro-health,” he said. “The vaccine is what makes you healthy. You get the vaccine, it’s going to make you healthy, keep you healthy and not let this happen to you.”
