Lisa Harris has been suffering with nerve damage since before the first Covid-19 vaccines were administered (Peter Byrne/PA)

Woman needing help to walk in online video was first diagnosed in 2012

By August Graham, PA Business Reporter
10:32 - March 22, 2023

A much-shared tweet has claimed that a young woman who is struggling to walk in an online video was injured by a vaccine.

Evaluation: False

The video shows Lisa Harris, a woman who has been suffering with nerve damage since 2012 and who stopped being able to walk in December 2020, before the first Covid-19 vaccines were administered.

The facts

Lisa Harris was diagnosed with a B12 deficiency in 2012 and developed what she calls a “funny” walk the same year.

In 2013 she was diagnosed with Addison’s disease, which means that her adrenal gland is not producing enough cortisol or aldosterone and can lead to a series of symptoms, including fatigue and muscle weakness.

According to her own Instagram profile – from where the video in question has been taken – her legs became more painful and started feeling weaker at the end of November and beginning of December 2020.

On the morning of December 4, Ms Harris woke with a strange feeling in her legs. That was the day she stopped being able to walk.

The first person to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in the UK was 90-year-old Margaret Keenan in Coventry.

That happened on December 8, 2020, several days after Ms Harris’s condition worsened.

The posts did not specifically say that Ms Harris’s problems were caused by a Covid-19 vaccine and not another jab.

However Ms Harris’s posts make it clear that doctors are so far unaware of what has made her condition worsen.

At the time of her last update they were exploring the possibility of a genetic cause. At no point has Ms Harris mentioned any possible connection with a vaccine.

Links

Tweet with video (archived tweet and video)

Tweet with vaccine claim (archived)

Ms Harris’s Instagram video (archived)

Ms Harris’s story of her journey on Instagram (archived here, here and here.

NHS press release on first UK vaccination (archived)

NHS information on Addison’s Disease (archived)

About PA’s fact checks

If you have any suggestions for future fact checks, objections or comments, please send them to factcheck@pamediagroup.com, including any relevant links. For more information on how to submit a correction or dispute a rating, please refer to our Corrections and complaints policy

Latest fact checks