The Covid-19 vaccine caused Claire Bridges to lose both her legs.
This is not true. Claire Bridges’ legs had to be amputated because of complications from a Covid-19 infection, combined with her longstanding heart condition. She has confirmed that the vaccine had nothing to do with it.
Several Facebook posts have falsely suggested that a woman called Claire Bridges lost both her legs as a result of her Covid-19 vaccination.
In fact, Ms Bridges’ legs were amputated as a result of complications from a Covid-19 infection, combined with a longstanding heart condition.
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Many of the Facebook posts say: “Claire Bridges was a 21 year old model when she received the mRNA vaccine.
“Clair [sic] ended up having legs amputated due to blood clots, and now suffers from myocarditis & kidney failure”.
They often include a photograph that Ms Bridges posted on her Instagram account on 15 March 2022, showing her sitting up by herself, after her surgery.
One post says “this young lady has had her life destroyed by the AZ [AstraZeneca] Vaccine”.
Others say that Ms Bridges’ legs were amputated after she “received it” or “after receiving the J * A * B”, which we interpret as a reference to the Covid-19 vaccine.
Ms Bridges herself, who lives in Florida, explained what happened to the US fact checker, Snopes.
In an interview, she confirmed that she had been vaccinated against Covid, seven months before catching the disease itself and said: “The reason why my bout with Covid was so severe is tied to the fact that I have a congenital heart condition.
“When I got Covid, a complication that arose from Covid was Rhabdomyolysis. Rhabdo attacks your muscles, the heart being a muscle and mine being so weak (it was already unable to efficiently pump blood where it needed to go). When the Rhabdo kept progressing, my health kept falling. Less oxygenated blood where it needs to be, severe dehydration, on top of all the other symptoms one deals with when they're sick from Covid. My legs began to go necrotic and in order to prevent sepsis they had to amputate. My legs were amputated due to Covid/Rhabdo, not the vaccine.
“For anyone who doesn't have any of the facts to say anything different than that, is extremely rude, harmful and disrespectful.”
Tampa General Hospital, where Ms Bridges was treated, also said her pre-existing heart condition and Covid-19 led to her needing amputation.
A similar description of what happened appears on a GoFundMe page created by her family.
Image courtesy of Towfiqu barbhuiya
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as missing context because the vaccine did not cause the amputation of Ms Bridges’ legs.
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