Bon débarras

What do you do when someone you hated dies? When a man whose being applauded as a hero of sorts...when you know the truth? Do you say anything or do you keep your mouth shut?

Influenza: 27-year-old youngest NBer whose death has been linked to virus, health official says




QUISPAMSIS - The H1N1 influenza virus has claimed the life of a generous, encouraging, brave 27-year-old, the man's mother said through tears Tuesday.


Michael Thomas Neill of Quispamsis died at the Saint John Regional Hospital on Monday.

Carolyn Neill said her only son had a history of asthma and pneumonia and had been complaining of breathing troubles before he was diagnosed with the H1N1 influenza virus in early December.

"He said it was so bad he wanted to rip his chest open," Neill said of her son's condition. "We rushed him right in and they put him on oxygen."

Neill spent the next three and a half weeks at her son's bedside.

"They put him on a ventilator and under sedation," she said. "They wanted him to be comfortable."

When doctors brought her son out of sedation he struggled to breathe until he eventually stopped, Neill said.

"My son was good guy; he tried so hard," she said through tears. "His friends said he was kind to everybody. He was like the jolly green giant."

Despite her insistence, her son did not get the H1N1 vaccine, Neill said.

"He didn't get the shot," she said. "He was a normal 27-year-old. I asked him to get it but they just figure they're indestructible at that age."

Neill said she urges anyone who hasn't been immunized to get the vaccine immediately.

"I would never want anybody to go through this," she said. "I just hope someone's mother says to their son, 'You have to get it.' Kids should be getting the shot."

Michael Neill's death is the eighth and youngest fatality associated with the H1N1 virus in the province, said Dr. Paul Van Buynder, New Brunswick's deputy chief medical health officer.

Neill was also the first person in the province to have an H1N1 virus resistant to Tamiflu, the most common antiviral used to fight the infection, Van Buynder said.

Drug-resistant cases of H1N1 are rare and have only occurred several dozen times across the world, Van Buynder said. It means "the first-line medication used to treat the infection, Tamiflu, does not work because the virus has changed in such a way as to be resistant to the medication.

"(Michael Neill) was treated with alternative anti-virals because the ones used for everyone else in Canada didn't work in his case."

Van Buynder could not say why the young man had the rare form of the infection other than that the virus occasionally mutates.

"He was infected in early December and we didn't see any other cases linked to him with the same virus," Van Buynder said, adding that the public should not worry that the death signifies a new pandemic. "His passing away is not a sign that the virus is returning in a nastier form.

"He contracted his infection way back in the start of December. If we were going to see a problem we would see it then, not now. It's very difficult for the virus to circulate in New Brunswick because too many people have been vaccinated."

Two-thirds of the population of New Brunswick - or almost 500,000 people - have been vaccinated, Van Buynder said.

He said Michael Neill comes from the target age group of men that officials have been challenged with convincing of the importance of the vaccination.

"I think the sad passing away of this young man reminds us that the young men who have not stepped up and got themselves vaccinated are not immune to the possible severe consequences of the pandemic."

As a child, Neill said her son played football and was the first player in his league to receive an achievement reward for encouraging and helping others two years in a row.

"He helped others and he did his best," she said.

As a young man he liked video games, his car and his friends, she said.

"He loved going out with his buds," Neill said, adding that a steady stream of calls of support have been pouring into her home. "He loved life. He loved his friends."

Neill said her family has lived in Quispamsis their whole lives and she said she is grateful for the last month she was able to be at her son's side.

"I was just glad I got to be with him."

Visiting for Michael Thomas Neill will take place today from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at Brenan's Select Community Funeral Home. The funeral service will be held Thursday at Brenan's Chapel at 10 a.m.

Funny how it fails to mention that this man was responsible for inflicting such abuse on his own new born daughter that she may never be mentally capable of living on her own or having any of the normal life experiences all children should have.

When young Victoria Neill was just 4 months old, her loving "generous" father dropped her on her head to a marble coffee table. When she became unconcious from the incident, her "generous" father shook her rendering irrepairable brain damage. He was convicted of this crime and spent a year and a half locked behind bars in the states. Upon his release he was promptly deported for being in the states illegally.

Fast forward one year. Mr. Neill refuses to work, instead choosing to have an affair with a married woman, (yes it can be argued that it was just as much her decision as it was his, and it was) he chose to involve himself and agravate the situation involving 4 young children from the marriage. The problem I have with this situation is he would take this woman's welfare check, screw her for paying her rent and providing a roof over these kids heads, or waste the money provided to feed them on his marijuana habit.

It's well known that Karma is a bitch. I find it irronic that the very children you chose to try and rob of a home and food are the same children that first caught H1N1 and are most likely where you caught the H1N1 that led to your demise.

So Mr. Neill, did you leave your mark on the world? Yes I suppose you did. I wish I could say it was a positive one. This is where one would normally close by saying rest in peace, but I do believe whatever higher source there is out there has other plans for you.

Good riddance you filthy piece of scum.