Biggest mistake!! How Covid-19 booster Jab Altered Sean Cardovillis's health

10 September 2023

• Sean will be missed by his friends, fans, and family.

• May he rest in peace.

Kenyans and the world at large have continued to mourn Capital FM's best and longest-serving sports Presenter Sean C Cardovillis.

According to authorities and witnesses, his body was discovered at the bottom of his staircase on the fourth floor of an apartment by a cleaner who had gone to clean the area leading to his home.

Unknown to many Sean had previously been battling Pneumonia.

In a detailed post, he shared how his health predicament came about especially after he contracted Covid-19.

According to Mayo, Clinic Pneumonia is an infection that inflames the air sacs in one or both lungs.

The air sacs may fill with fluid or pus (purulent material), causing cough with phlegm or pus, fever, chills, and difficulty breathing.

In a post titled: My battles with Pneumonia and lessons for Everyone by Sean Cardovillis:

The veteran journalist shared

"In September and October last year, I thought I was suffering from colds and flu and was just taking medicines to combat them. It was only when I started suffering from back pains and sharp pains in the ribs that I took the symptoms seriously a week before I was due to emcee the KCB Nanyuki Autocross and Kenya National Rally Championship at the beginning of October. The doctor realized that it was pneumonia and prescribed me antibiotics for three days. Even though I felt better afterward, my father still noticed that I had some pains in my ribs, but the doctor said that the antibiotics were still working and the pains would go away."

Sean said not long after that he tested positive

"Anyway the symptoms did go away, although I still had intermittent coughs up to today, which I never really took seriously.

In the second week of December, I tested positive for COVID-19, and I self-isolated for five days until I tested negative when I went to Nanyuki for three weeks over Christmas and New Year. A mistake I made, which I found out later, was to take the Pfizer booster jab just before New Year which left me in bed with a fever for 2 days due to the side effects. I was later to find out that you should wait a minimum of 28 days between testing negative for Covid AND taking the booster jab."

Sean went on to detail that after taking the Covid-19 booster, a series of problems emerged

"This really was the start of a series of medical issues that led to me getting the second round of pneumonia that many doctors call 'Long Covid'.

There are thousands of cases of Long Covid - with the most famous 'sufferer' being Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton.

Over the last few weeks, I had been suffering from shortness of breath, which led to me struggling to walk and sleep. This culminated in me having to rush to Nairobi Hospital last Friday night. Believe it or not, Nairobi Hospital just did a blood test - nothing wrong, and the doctor told me it was anxiety and she did NOT check my chest. I deteriorated rapidly over the weekend and I had to call my father who rushed up from Nanyuki on Sunday morning. "

He and his family decided to seek a second opinion

"I went to Mediheal and did a chest x-ray and ECG. It turned out I had severe pneumonia!

So they gave me antibiotics to treat the pneumonia. However, those tablets proved too strong for me and I was also suffering from diarrhoea and anxiety attacks that meant I couldn't sleep at night. Finally, I called a close friend of mine whose husband is a doctor at Village Market yesterday (a HUGE thank you to Sue Nkirote Omanga - God bless you) and he knew exactly what was wrong. He changed my course of medicine and I'm also on a course of multi-vitamin tablets to get my strength back. This morning I'm pleased to tell you that my anxiety attacks have gone and so has the diarrhoea. I've been advised to stay away from crowds for the next few weeks as my immune system is still very low."

Due to ill health, Sean said at the time he had to cancel a couple of gigs.

"One thing I didn't realize is that I had to cancel or postpone a number of my consultancy media contracts because of the pneumonia. If you're an accountant or CEO for example, you can get away with a dodgy voice or the odd sick day. However, for the first time in my career, I've realized I'm nothing without a healthy voice!

As my family said, let me focus on getting my health back and the rest will hopefully fall into place.

Please, if you feel you have cold and flu-like symptoms, don't take them for granted and get checked up properly."