16-Year-Old Jonathan Zhao Facing Life and Death

Spring is finally here. We can feel the life, joy, and optimism in the air. Unfortunately, 16-year-old Jonathan Zhao cannot experience any of this. He is one of the rare but probable vaccine injury victims battling between life and death at the moment.

Jonathan suffered from severe bodily infections coincidently after being administered the COVID-19 vaccine booster shot in January 2022. His health deteriorated rapidly thereafter, and he was finally hospitalized at Stanford Children's Hospital in November 2022 and diagnosed with Chronic Active Epstein-Barr Virus (CAEBV).

While EBV itself is not an uncommon virus, the extent to which Jonathan’s immune system has been completely compromised is extremely rare. Jonathan’s case has no precedent. He went through unconventional hormone therapy with chemotherapy 3 times in order to treat these severe, repetitive infections, but unfortunately, the treatments did not succeed. Jonathan was transferred to the ICU twice where he requires around-the-clock medical and physical attention from the healthcare team. He has been in the hospital for almost 5 months now and remains in a heartbreaking hospice condition.

Jonathan was a remarkably happy, healthy, and athletic kid who loved to play competitive soccer. He had outstanding grades in Pinewood High School and his dream was becoming a medical professional. Jonathan had great manners, a good heart, and a strong sense of responsibility in life with a bright future awaiting him. He has a wonderful and supportive family but this event has put a strain on the happy family emotionally, physically, and financially. Jonathan’s parents, Wei Zhao (Bill) and Ying, stay in the hospital virtually 24/7, caring for their son. Ying looks after the family including Jonathan’s younger sister, Joanna, who misses her brother miserably. Despite being the breadwinner, Bill spends all his time with Jonathan, and he ended up having to give up his career. On top of the emotional toll that they must endure, the loss of earnings and the fear of an inconceivable medical liability have put the family on a financial precipice.

Jonathan’s strong will to live and his parents’ resilient spirit inspired their friends from A.W.E.S.O.M.E.* group to establish this GoFundMe campaign. Our hope is not only to raise money to ease their financial hardship but also to raise awareness of the extent to which vaccine side effects may manifest. And most importantly, our collective spirits will resonate with Jonathan’s so that he can fight and win this battle. Your support means the world to Jonathan and his family. On behalf of the Zhao family, we are deeply grateful for your generous donation and incredible compassion!

(We’d sincerely appreciate it if you could also circulate this message to your friends and families who may care about forgotten individuals like Jonathan. We again thank you from the bottom of our hearts!)

AWESOME Bay Area group

* Ancient Wisdom Enhancing School of Mindfulness and Enlightenment (AWESOME)

GoFundMe Chinese Version

16 歲的趙天健面臨生與死

春天終於來了。我們可以感受到空氣中的生命、歡樂和樂觀。不幸的是，16歲的趙天健 (Jonathan Zhao) 無法體驗這一切。 他是目前為數不多但很可能在生死之間掙扎的疫苗傷害受害者之一。

Jonathan 在 2022 年 1 月注射了 COVID-19 疫苗加強針後恰巧身體受到嚴重感染。此後他的健康狀況迅速惡化，最終於 2022 年 11 月在斯坦福兒童醫院住院並被診斷出患有慢性活動性 Epstein-Barr 病毒（CAEBV).

雖然 EBV 病毒本身並不是一種罕見的病毒，但 Jonathan 的免疫系統完全受損的程度極為罕見。 Jonathan 的案子沒有先例。 為了治療這些嚴重的反复感染，他經歷了3次非常規的激素治療和化療，但不幸的是，治療沒有成功。 Jonathan 兩次被轉移到重症監護病房，在那裡他需要醫療團隊全天候的醫療和身體護理。 他現在已經在醫院住了將近五個月，仍然處於令人心碎的臨終關懷狀態。

Jonathan 是一個非常快樂、健康和運動的孩子，他喜歡踢競技足球。 他在 Pinewood 高中成績優異，他的夢想是成為一名醫學專家。 Jonathan 品行端正，心地善良，對生活有強烈的責任感，前途一片光明。 他有一個美好而支持他的家庭，但這次事件給這個幸福的家庭帶來了情感、身體和經濟上的壓力。 Jonathan 的父親趙威 (Bill) 和 母親李颖 (Ying) 幾乎 24/7 都在醫院照顧他們的兒子。母親照顧家人，包括 Jonathan 的妹妹 趙天嬌，她非常想念哥哥。 儘管是養家糊口的父親卻把所有的時間都花在了 Jonathan 身上，他最終不得不放棄自己的事業。 除了他們必須承受的情感損失之外，收入損失和對難以想像的醫療責任的恐懼使這個家庭陷入財務困境。

Jonathan 堅強的求生意志和他父母堅韌不拔的精神啟發了他們來自 A.W.E.S.O.M.E.* 小組的朋友發起了這項 GoFundMe 活動。 我們的希望不僅是籌集資金以緩解他們的經濟困難，而且還希望提高人們對疫苗副作用可能出現的程度的認識。 最重要的是，我們的集體精神將與 Jonathan 的精神產生共鳴，以便他能夠戰鬥並贏得這場戰鬥。 您的支持對 Jonathan 和他的家人來說意味著全世界。 我們代表趙氏家人，對您的慷慨捐助和無比的慈悲深表謝意！

（如果您也能將此信息轉發給可能關心像 Jonathan 這樣被遺忘的人的朋友和家人，我們將不勝感激。我們再次從心底感謝您！）

AWESOME 灣區小組

*Ancient Wisdom Enhancing School of Mindfulness and Enlightenment (AWESOME)