A one-time anti-masker has shared a video from his hospital bed expressing his remorse at denying the virulence of Covid-19 – and urging others to wear face coverings – after catching coronavirus.
A friend of Chuck Stacey’s shared the video, saying: “My friend didn’t wear a mask because he believed the lies from our leaders. Now, he’s close to being intubated. He asked that I share this.”
In the video Stacey – who is pictured with an oxygen tube in his nose, struggling to breathe – says: “I didn’t wear a mask. I should have. I didn’t. I believed this was just the flu and it was all going to go away and it was political.”
“I didn’t think a mask would help,” Stacey added. “You don’t want to end up like me. I’m having trouble breathing. I may have to be intubated if I get any worse.”
He went on to urge viewers to wear a mask to protect themselves – and their loved ones.
“If wearing a mask can reduce your chances of getting this, even by five per cent, just wear a mask,” he said. “Do it for your children, your loved ones, do it for yourself.”
The video, which has been viewed close to 800,000 times already, comes after Stacey previously claimed masks were an “overreaction”, the New York Post reported.
He reportedly wrote on Facebook in May that he’d “had it” with masks, adding: “It’s just another example of the continued overreaction to this situation … Please stop so when we come to eat we can enjoy our meal without feeling sorry for the employees.”
In a series of videos since, Stacey has said he is on the road to recovery, and lamented the fact that coronavirus “got politicised”.
“I pray that no one else gets this, I really pray that everybody can take the politics out of it, I didn’t, I was a jackass,” he said.
Related: Vaccine minister Zahawi grilled by Piers over ‘pointless’ border tests
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