Witness Testimony

Suzanne and Barry Thesen testified that Barry, a retired Saskatchewan farmer and business owner, received his first Moderna COVID-19 vaccine dose in May 2021 without major complications. He received a second dose on July 13, 2021 in Nipawin, Saskatchewan. Within hours, he reportedly developed dizziness, shaking, sweating, confusion, and severe weakness. By the following morning, Suzanne observed facial drooping, disorientation, speech impairment, motor dysfunction, and what she believed were stroke-like symptoms. Barry declined hospital care at that time due to fear of isolation and restricted visitation policies.
According to Suzanne’s testimony, Barry experienced persistent neurological and cognitive impairments in the weeks and months that followed. She described memory loss, difficulty processing information, confusion regarding dates and tasks, impaired financial management, physical weakness, stair-climbing difficulty, and episodes of visual disturbances described as shadow-like birds or animals. She also reported episodes of spatial disorientation while driving and hallucination-like perceptions of additional people in the home.
The couple later consulted a trusted physician by telephone and requested that the event be reported as a vaccine injury. Suzanne stated that the physician expressed uncertainty regarding causation but agreed to submit a report. A referral to a neurologist was arranged, though Barry declined to attend. Suzanne concluded that Barry’s injury was preventable and attributed it to insufficient warning of potential side effects and perceived coercion related to travel and nursing home visitation policies.