Fully vaccinated Ontario man dies after COVID-19 sweeps through his hockey league
A fully vaccinated Ontario man has died after a COVID-19 outbreak swept through his adult hockey league.
Oro-Medonte father-of-three Garry Weston died last week after suffering a severe stroke while fighting pneumonia caused by COVID-19, his family says.
His daughter, Amber Weston-Campbell, said the 75-year-old contracted the disease in late September while playing in his three-on-three hockey league in Newmarket for the first time in 18 months.
There were 15 COVID-19 cases linked to the hockey league and all were breakthrough infections in fully vaccinated people, officials in York Region said.
"My dad was an avid sports person," Weston-Campbell told CTV News Toronto on Thursday. "He's been waiting to go back and play because he just loved hockey."
A few days after playing, Weston-Campbell said her dad started to feel unwell.
"It was like a cold, but it progressively got worse at home," she said. "He was struggling to breathe."
Weston was admitted to hospital but wasn’t getting any better. He was transferred to intensive care and not long after that was intubated.
"As they were intubating him, he developed signs and symptoms of a stroke," Weston-Campbell, who is a registered nurse, said. "They discovered after he had a massive stroke. The doctor basically said to us he wouldn’t be able to come home. It was a grim diagnosis."
Garry Weston, 75, died after a COVID-19 outbreak swept through his Newmarket, Ont. hockey league. (Supplied)
Weston-Campbell said the doctors told her the damage caused by the stroke was irreversible and he would have "no quality of life" if he managed to survive when taken off life support.
"It would have been so unfair of us to try and keep his physical shell of a body, which it would have been, when he would have hated every minute of it. He was far too active of a guy to live like that."
She said the family decided last week to switch off his life support.
'They played his favourite Doris Day song and they said that was the only time he made movement. He squeezed my sister's hand."
Weston died in hospital on Oct. 21.
"You would never meet a person who wasn't sure if they met Garry, because you knew it. You knew when you met Garry because he meant every hug, he meant every handshake and he meant every smile. He was a great guy."
Weston leaves behind his wife, three children, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
'IT SPREAD LIKE WILDFIRE'
Weston lived with his spouse, youngest daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren. Everyone in the home tested positive for COVID-19, despite those above 12 years old being fully vaccinated.
"It spread like wildfire. How did this happen?" Weston-Campbell said. "We're shocked."
She said the family still believes in the efficacy of vaccinations and doesn’t want people to be paranoid.
"We just want people to be vigilant," she said. "It's a very small number of people, but you never know when that number is going to be you."
According to Weston's best friend of 50 years, the other 14 people who tested positive in the hockey league had minor symptoms.
Brian Dunn told CTV News Toronto he was sitting next to Weston at the hockey arena. He also tested positive for COVID-19, but had minor symptoms and has since recovered.
“How did we all get this transmitted to each other?" Dunn said. "We were all double-vaccinated, we went into the rink showing our proof of double vaccination, with our masks on."
The public health department said the arena was following all COVID-19 protocols, but the general manager says he wishes he was infomed of the cases sooner.
“Timing of everything was the confusing part for us," Andrew Shorkey, General Manager of National Training Rinks Newmarket said. "Only because the timelines of when they got sick versus when we were notified were very very spread apart. It would have been a lot easier to maybe manage or control if we had known 10 days prior to when we found out.”
"What more could we have done, except not played," Dunn said. "It’s a shock. How did this happen?"
"I'm completely pissed off and sad."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
'Sophisticated' cyberattacks detected on B.C. government networks, premier says
There has been a "sophisticated" cybersecurity breach detected on B.C. government networks, Premier David Eby confirmed Wednesday evening.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
Canucks claw out 5-4 comeback win over Oilers in Game 1
Dakota Joshua had a goal and two assists and the Vancouver Canucks scored three third-period goals to claw out a 5-4 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Wednesday.
Nijjar murder suspect says he had Canadian study permit in immigration firm's video
One of the Indian nationals accused of murdering British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar says in a social media video that he received a Canadian study permit with the help of an Indian immigration consultancy.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.