A pathologist who carried out a postmortem on a young man who died of a catastrophic brain bleed five days after he received a Johnson and Johnson Covid vaccine has described the case as "baffling and unusual".
Roy Butler (23) from Waterford died at Cork University Hospital (CUH) on August 17th, 2021, after receiving a vaccine at a pharmacy five days earlier. He was rushed to University Hospital Waterford on August 16th and transferred shortly afterwards to CUH after he became extremely ill at home.
Ciara Davin BL, for the Butler family, said Roy’s “last communication on earth” involved him calling his mother for help at the family home.
He experienced jerking and convulsions shortly before he was hospitalised. He had sent texts to his friends and his brother over the previous few days saying that he was feeling sick following the vaccine.
Ms Davin said in her closing submission that Roy even told one of his friends via text that he was “dying” after the jab.
“Poignantly, he was effectively documenting his own demise in his texts to friends. Little did he know that he was in fact dying when he said ‘dying’ in a text to a friend.”
Ms Davin said in Roy’s “honest and innocent” texts he “left all the evidence” that was needed to link his death to his receipt of the Covid vaccine. Roy had complained of headaches, grogginess, neck and jaw soreness.
Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster carried out a postmortem on the body of Mr Butler.
She told the inquest that the cause of death was a spontaneous and unexplained intracranial haemorrhage. She described the case as “baffling” and “extremely rare.”
Dr Bolster said that she had carried out 20,000 postmortems over 30 years. She said she had never come across a case of a young person dying in this way where an explanation could not be found.
She said that she could not make a causal link with the vaccine arising out of the lack of scientific literature.
Dr Bolster said a link between the vaccine and the death of Mr Butler could not be established or ruled out.
“I certainly cannot rule it out, but I would need to know a lot more about the cases. It is extremely rare.
“It would have to be based on sound scientific evidence. I cannot say any more than I cannot rule it in or out and the correct procedure was to contact the National Drugs Advisory board, and they correlate all this data. You would have to correlate how many of those cases had no underlying abnormality.”
Dr Niamh Bermingham, a neuropathologist at CUH, who, alongside another colleague, carried out an examination of the brain of the deceased, said it was an “unusual case.”
She said she could not recall another case of an “unexplained haemorrhage in a young person.”
Dr Bermingham said they failed to find the origin of the bleed. She said there was no genetic component found which could explain the death. No malformations were detected in the brain of Mr Butler.
Ms Davin thanked Dr Bermingham for her comprehensive and helpful evidence. However, she said the family “were at a loss” as no explanation had been given for the death of their loved one.
In her closing submission, Ms Davin said Roy Butler’s death was caused by the vaccine. She said that the most appropriate verdict in the case was one of misadventure.
She insisted that Mr Butler’s death arose because of an “evolving intra-cerebral crisis.” She said that the footballer was a “clean living” man who trained several times a week.
“He had no underlying issues and no past history of medical significance.”
Ms Davin said that we are now aware of other cases of people who suffered an “intra-cranial haemorrhage” after they took the jab.
John Lucey SC, for Johnson and Johnson, said that it was a “shocking tragedy.” However, he emphasised that the facts were that there was no medical evidence to determine any link between the vaccine and the death of Mr Butler.
He stressed that the range of verdicts in the case should not go beyond a narrative verdict or open verdict. He added that a “narrative verdict” was the only appropriate verdict in the case.
Coroner Philip Comyn said the testimony over the last three days was “complicated and moving.”
Mr Comyn will email the verdict to the relevant parties within the next fortnight. He extended his heartfelt condolences to the Butler family following their “tragic loss” in difficult and unexpected circumstances. He said that Roy was a “healthy young man with his whole future ahead of him.”
Mr Comyn also thanked the Butler family for the manner in which they had conducted themselves during the inquest. He also thanked representatives of Johnson and Johnson for travelling from the United States for the inquest.
Sgt Fergus Twomey thanked the Butler family and Roy’s friends. She said Roy was “obviously very loved” and that his loved ones had “advocated very strongly” for him. The verdict will be emailed to the relevant parties in the coming weeks.
Speaking outside the court, Aaron Butler thanked all the people who had supported them for the last two years. He also expressed gratitude for the work of Ciara Davin and her team. Aaron added that his brother was “the total package” – a “caring and positive” young man loved by all.
