Dropped by Doctor, Denied Accommodation, Permanently Disabled¶
Day 2 · 3:26:00 · Thor Hart · Shawn Buckley · Daniel Freiheit · Jasmeet Grewal
- 📉 Family doctor diagnosed vaccine injury then discharged him as “out of area,” leaving only ER Toradol patches for over a year.
- 🚫 GM’s no-cane policy refused accommodation and forced him onto long-term disability; he now walks 5–10 minutes with brace and cane.
- 🔥 Flare-ups still produce extreme swelling and a “roadshow of pain” through shoulders, hips, knees and feet.
Systemic barriers convert acute injury into permanent disability and isolation from care.
← Three Days After Second Shot: Crawling to the Bathroom | Q&A: How Has the Injury Affected Hart Mentally and with Doctors? →
Transcript¶
Thor Hart · 3:26:01
Yes.
Shawn Buckley · 3:26:01
And wants you to be referred to a clinic for vaccine injury.
Thor Hart · 3:26:04
Yes.
Shawn Buckley · 3:26:05
And so explain to your muscles actually getting broken down. Yes.
Thor Hart · 3:26:10
And that's what's going on. He said that he saw it right there, and he did explain to me— he was kind enough to say that I will encounter, um, a lot of doctors who will be reluctant to want to address this. So this is where he just said, you need— he didn't know who my family doctor was. He said, so in case your doctors want— you need to push, you need to the vaccine injury clinic. So unfortunately, with my doctor at the time, they did diagnose vaccine injury. I had to go on disability leave short term. From there, it was again reluctant to get me into the vaccine injury clinic. I had to sort of fight for that. And at the point where I believe it was in January, my doctor just said that because I'm a manager, a supervisor, group leader at General Motors. I can self-modulate even though I'm still injured.
Thor Hart · 3:27:10
I can go back to work. So I did. And I went back to work and I remember being seen by the health nurse there and I told them I'm still at risk of having heart attack. And in fact, so I'm going to back up one bit. While I was in my doctor's office being checked out, she had to send me to St. Joseph's Hospital emergency. Because right in the middle of talking with her, for whatever reason, I guess she saw my face was flushed or something, so she took my blood pressure. I don't know what it was, but whatever it was, she called St. Joseph's and said if I— my wife couldn't get me there, she'd send an ambulance because my heart— my blood pressure had gone up so far she thought I was having a heart attack in her office. So that never fixed itself either, but she said because I'm a non-physical job, I can go back and self-accommodate. So I went back in and did so, and then shortly afterwards I was dropped as a patient for being out of area.
Thor Hart · 3:28:10
So I was left with, uh, the hospital as being my only recourse of treatment during— while waiting for the vaccine injury, and I didn't go to the Vaccine Injury because when I spoke to the person there to make the appointment, I, I was hoping to get some treatment, and they informed me that no, they just wanted to find out what was going on with me. So I felt like, okay, so you want me to help you? I'm going to be your guinea pig. I need help. And they said, no, that's what your family doctor's for, who had just dropped me as an out-of— so I had no family doctor. And the hospital got to the point where I'd been in and out of there over the year till I finally got a real good family doctor. Um, they just kept feeling sorry for me. I became a regular patient there to come in, get Toradol, and as they said, they weren't able to treat me. I needed to go see specialists, which they couldn't do, but what they could do is sort of patch me together, give me painkillers, and sort let me hobble along until I can get the proper treatment.
Thor Hart · 3:29:17
And I had to go through that for over a year. Um, finally I did reach a good doctor who actually got me the right treatment, or at least trying to. But even in that case there, I'm, I'm gonna hesitate on naming names here because we don't need to.
Daniel Freiheit · 3:29:36
Thank you.
Thor Hart · 3:29:37
I was going to say, because some of them were really good And, um, again, um, they, they openly said to me that they were afraid that they would lose their license by openly putting their treatment down on paper. And for that, I don't want any doctor to lose their license over me. I just want help. Um, and I do remember one specialist I went to see where they had, um, I guess a student doctor they were training And I was— they were in the office treating me, and they really wanted to help me. Um, I, I really felt hope for a moment. And I just remember the specialist pulled them outside the office, but I could still hear them, and they warned the student, no, don't go there, this is beyond our scope, we don't go near the, the causation. And then that's when They came back in and they told me anything to do with essentially the vaccine injury, the causation is beyond their scope.
Thor Hart · 3:30:41
They will just treat the symptoms.
Shawn Buckley · 3:30:43
I'm just going to focus you a little bit. Yeah. Like, so today you are, you're permanently disabled.
Thor Hart · 3:30:50
Yes, I have mobility issues. And during that time I tried to go back for accommodation. And, uh, General Motors cited a no cane policy and, um, they refused to accommodate me, so they forced me onto LTD, which is long-term disability.
Shawn Buckley · 3:31:09
So you were— you can— you wear a knee brace?
Thor Hart · 3:31:11
Yes, it's—.
Shawn Buckley · 3:31:12
Yeah. And you can go 10 minutes with a cane?
Thor Hart · 3:31:15
5, 10 Minutes. Yeah, it is. I have blood staining on this knee from the swelling.
Thor Hart · 3:31:22
Um, it was—.
Thor Hart · 3:31:23
I don't know the medical term for it. I'm sure there's a doctor that's going to know what it is, but And this one here is just permanently swollen. And it's— and the flare-ups, I, I kind of jokingly call it a roadshow of pain through my body, through my shoulders, my hips, my knees, my feet. And when the flare-ups start, I, again, I can't walk.
Shawn Buckley · 3:31:46
How are you doing today?
Thor Hart · 3:31:47
I'm in a bit of pain. I, I'm in pain. As soon as we're done here, I'm gonna have to Take some painkillers.
Shawn Buckley · 3:31:55
And yesterday you were trying to watch, but you had to go home and lay— or back to the hotel and lay down.
Thor Hart · 3:32:01
So, yeah.
Shawn Buckley · 3:32:01
So just daily activities, like even coming to watch the proceedings can tire you out. We're going to pull up a couple of photos.
Thor Hart · 3:32:09
Yeah.
Shawn Buckley · 3:32:11
So if we can do that. So this is you before vaccination.
Jasmeet Grewal · 3:32:15
Yes.
Thor Hart · 3:32:15
That's the year before I was holding my wife.
Shawn Buckley · 3:32:18
Yeah. Basically holding your wife. So which just demonstrates, you know, physically fit, not definitely not walking with a cane or having any difficulties at all. And if we can show the next one, which is actually about—.
Daniel Freiheit · 3:32:31
Yeah.
Thor Hart · 3:32:32
Swelling.
Shawn Buckley · 3:32:32
I just, you know, you were describing swelling feet, but I think a photo speaks really loudly. Yeah. So this is what you were experiencing and still experience.
Thor Hart · 3:32:41
Yes.
Thor Hart · 3:32:42
That's days after. And that's what I still experience when the flare-up and that's Again, they've tested me for blood clots, and it's really almost— they just say, well, we don't know, we'll give you some more painkillers and keep you on your way.
Shawn Buckley · 3:33:00
When, um, when we were— when I was interviewing you, um, I don't even remember when that was, but you had said a couple of things that was interesting.