TISSUE samples of 13-year-old N. Revnesh Kumar have been sent abroad for further investigation into the cause of his death, his mother Vijayarani Govindan said. 

The family claims the teenager’s death is due to Covid-19 vaccination but the Health Ministry denies this.

Vijayarani said she was informed by the ministry via a letter that they had sent the tissue samples to the US on June 23 and that it would take about 60 days for the findings to be revealed.

“First, I was told by an officer from the Health Ministry that they had sent my late son’s tissue samples to the United States on June 23.

“I was also informed that it would take around 60 days for the report to be ready.

“I then received a letter from the ministry confirming the matter. We are now awaiting the findings,” Vijayarani told The Malaysian Insight.

Revnesh died on January 16, merely 18 days after taking his first dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.

Ravnesh was on the way to karate class, accompanied by his father, L. Naresh Kumar, when he collapsed in the lift and was rushed to Kajang Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Vijayarani and her husband have blamed the vaccine for causing the boy’s death.

Initially, the reason for Revnesh’s death was unexplained despite an autopsy.

However, a peer-reviewed preliminary report released on March 9 from the Health Ministry, conducted by forensic experts, showed that the teenager’s death was not related to the coronavirus vaccine.

The preliminary report only stated that Revnesh died a “sudden death” as test results showed his organs were all healthy and his body was not affected by the vaccine.

Vijayarani disputed the ministry’s findings on the reason for her son’s death and still believes that the vaccine was the cause of it. 

She claimed that the ministry, since the start, had tried to write off the possibility that Revnesh died due to the vaccine and hence wanted an independent inquiry into the matter.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin on March 17 said that Revnesh’s death would be referred to an independent panel of experts, who were not part of the Health Ministry, for further investigation. 

Vijayarani said that she had to follow up with the ministry on several occasions to get updates on the case.

“I had written to the minister on April 20, explaining that I was not satisfied with the findings and that I wanted the ministry to send my son’s tissue samples abroad for further investigation.

“After Hari Raya, a member of its staff called to inform me that they were waiting for allocations from the government (to send the samples abroad) and that they would keep me updated.

“However, I didn’t get any response after that. So, I wrote a second letter on June 22 to the minister and on the very next day, a staff member called to inform me that Revnesh’s tissue samples had been sent to the United States,” she said.

Vijayarani, who has another 11-year-old daughter, said she would not rest until she received justice for her son.

She added that she would go to any extent for this.

“Would anyone accept it if they were told that their healthy child had died a sudden death? I definitely couldn’t accept it.

“If it was indeed sudden death, they (the doctors) could have told me the moment they did the initial autopsy. Why did they have to wait so long before they came to such a conclusion?

“So, I will not rest until I get a valid reason for my son’s death. As a mother, I will do whatever is possible to get justice for my late son,” she said.

Vijayarani said the family is yet to recover from the loss and added that their daughter was feeling lonely after losing her brother.

She said that if the new findings proved that her son had actually died from the Covid-19 vaccine, she would not hesitate to sue the government.

“They (the government) assured us that there would not be any problems due to the vaccine.

“But then how did my healthy son, who does not have any prior medical condition or record of admission to hospitals, die a so-called sudden death?

“He had big dreams, even we, as parents did. His passing is a big loss for us,” she said.

Other parents are wary now

Vijayarani claimed that some people had approached her, saying that her video published by The Malaysian Insight talking about her son’s passing had made them reconsider their decision to get their children vaccinated.

She said that some had expressed their doubts over the vaccine due to what happened to Revnesh.

“A lot of people have approached me, asking me to be strong and said that my video about losing my son after vaccination had made them reconsider their decision to vaccinate their children.

“I had nothing to say; I just don’t want another parent to go through the same situation as we did. We are really suffering,” she added.

Vijayarani claimed she found out that some parents had even cancelled their children’s vaccinations after watching the video.

Last month, Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said that a total of 1,518,773 children below the age of 12 had not been vaccinated against Covid-19.

From the amount, there were 264,750 children who weren’t vaccinated because they were below the age of five, he said.

When asked about complications faced by children, Dr Noor Azmi said the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) had received 500 suspected adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) cases. 

He said of the 500, there were only 31 serious cases and claimed that they were fine after receiving medical treatment at hospital.

The Health Ministry has maintained that there have been no deaths directly linked to the Covid-19 vaccination. 

Although the ministry admitted that some could experience severe side effects after vaccination, it dismissed the likelihood of one dying from the vaccine. – August 11, 2022.