The U.S. Army and National Guard acknowledged a soldier’s “debilitating heart condition” is connected to the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a new report by former CBS reporter Catherine Herridge.
Army National Guard Specialist Karoline Stancik, 24, has reportedly racked up over $70,000 in medical debt after being hospitalized for heart complications.
She suffered her first heart attack after receiving the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
An Army memo about Stancik’s situation acquired by Herridge shows she had been diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or “POTS.” Stancik described having intense adverse reactions to her vaccinations, including high heart rate, neuropathic pain and difficulty breathing.
She was released from active duty in 2022, costing her medical benefits and a salary.
Watch:
WATCH: Investigative journalist Catherine Herridge, releases an interview with a 24-year-old soldier that has developed a “debilitating heart condition” linked to the army mandated COVID-19 mRNA vaccine pic.twitter.com/nPFn1Qqoc3
— Overton (@OvertonLive) June 24, 2024
The effects she experienced were so detrimental to her health, Stancik said, that she considered suicide. She now requires a pacemaker and heart surgery.
It’s not what I expected for myself,” she said. “I though it was going to be doing marathons.”
Stancik is now being represented by USJAG, an advocacy organization for soldiers injured in the lie of duty. Veterans Advocate Jeremy Sorenson told The National Desk (TND) the case represents a larger trend of removing benefits from injured troops as a cost-saving measure within the Department of Defense.
They have the money,” Sorenson said. “They choose to spend the money on other things. The Department of Defense chooses to spend its money not on its people, not on injured servicemembers, they have other priorities.”
“Our country has a responsibility to take care of our injured service members,” he added. “[Branches of the military] ignore the Department of Defense instructions, they ignore federal law and they make policies and they make determinations that are wholesale illegal.”
An Army spokesperson reportedly told Herridge that Stancik could have remained on active duty while receiving treatment. She denied having ever been counseled about this option.
Neither the Pentagon nor Moderna responded to a request for comment from TND Monday.
The GOP side of the House Judiciary Committee applauded Herridge’s return to journalism in a post on X Monday afternoon, claiming the “Left tried to silence” her. Herridge was laid off from CBS News in February.
