[Music] the life of renowned extreme triathlete heo sep took a sudden and devastating turn in Norway within just hours after vaccination hio developed hard inflammation with excruciating chest pain rushed to the hospital by ambulance he was diagnosed with pericarditis linked to the vaccine after vaccination hio developed a severe autoimmune disease plunging him into a world of constant pain and Agony forever altering the course of his life and ending his journey as a top level athlete [Music] setting him on a path to face the greatest challenge of his life I've been suffering a lot I all day full of pain especially my left side it's hard to explain how difficult it been because you know I used to do drainings and live like a healthy life and uh now I I have a problem even to deliver my kids to the school and kindergarten pick them up uh I'm basically sitting at home can't do any training it's start to get the get to e my mental health after receiving the vaccine heo developed a serious autoimmune disease causing his immune system to relentlessly attack his own body during these episodes Aiko's entire body shuts down leaving him bedridden he endures a long list of debilitating symptoms including episodes of fainting Tremors fatigue extreme joint and muscle pain as well as a very weak immune system brain fog headaches and cold feet heo and an have built their lives in Norway and who previously worked as an assistant nurse currently serves as a health secretary while heo is in the sports equipment industry before the covid vaccine and disability heko was able to joyfully Embrace his role as a father to their two young Sons as well as his daughter [Music] while this documentary centers on heiko's postco vaccine battle let's also Journey back to celebrate his remarkable achievements and superhuman condition as a world class extreme triathlete there was a time when heko soared through life seemingly invincible [Music] as we look at heo seep making uh The Climb there heo has achieved impressive Podium placements in extreme triathlons securing first place at Evergreen endurance second place at alaskaman and two third place finishes in Norway's Iron Man and Scotland seltman we're meeting with heiko's friends to discuss his Sports career and are eager to learn about extreme Triathlon hio how's it good to see you my name is j McKinnis I'm the CEO of X Tri World Tour which is a series of extreme draon events hosted around the world extreme Tron is a sport very much like normal Tron uh but we introduce far more extreme elements we can have water that's below 10° which wouldn't be allowed in a different type of triathon high winds we often uh include mountains so that gives a lot of ascent in the bike course and in the Run course norsman is considered one of the toughest sporting events globally and it is also one of heiko's favorite races [Music] in the early morning participants start with a 3.8 km swim in the Fjord followed by a demanding 180 km bike ride including a tough 40 km uphill stretch the race concludes with a 42 km Marathon featuring a challenging 17 km Ascent the finish line is nearly 2 km high at the mountain [Applause] Summit uh hao's friend John Bal is a three-time norsman champion and also the record holder is indeed hosp from Estonia who is just going to make it inside the top 10 he's striding in in 10th position taking off he's managing to stay in his feet one of very few competitors manag to stay in the feet with the support team there have a seat are you happy hio is a very good example of the type of athlete who comes to our races hio is is driven so hard by the desire to do well in these races but he's interesting because he's very humble so he doesn't tend to uh say that he's any good he's incredibly good but he's very humble about it so hi will say oh yeah I might be able to finish this race you know it's it's it's pretty hard um and then he'll smash it to bits I mean he really is quite an incredible athlete hio in my opinion is one of the fittest people I know Aiko's friend Kai AO is a top level extreme sports photographer my name is Kyoto for the last at least 15 years or so I've been doing all these extreme events triones Trail [Music] runs so hio is the kind of guy that if there is an athlete who has an accident or even if they come to a come to a race and they are missing a tire or you know something is wrong with their bike which happens surprisingly often hio will do everything he can to help that athlete fix their bike on the evening before a race when he should be in bed and sleep and get rest in the triathlon Community heko is renowned for his willingness to help and mentor before the vaccine heko embodied Supreme vitality and excellent health he trained and competed with utmost caution always free from injuries without any heart or joint problems before the vaccine my condition was really good his super healthy lifestyle ensured Peak physical health and a robust immune system Aiko's Health took a nose dive after the first vaccine suddenly if found himself grappling with a weakened immune system enduring constant coughing and flu-like symptoms and he faced a mysterious onset of muscle stiffness and pain despite these symptoms hoo completed the 2021 Norman competition unaware that his superhuman condition would soon undergo a devastating change leaving him disabled [Music] in September following his second dose within hours of vaccination he felt tightness in his chest and shortness of [Music] breath overwhelming chest pain insued making every breath excruciatingly [Music] painful hao's chest pain progressed to a critical State and he crumbled to the floor struggling with a the sense of Suffocation it was so painful in my chest I had a problems to breathe I couldn't get any Oxygen at all one moment I I felt like that that's de or [Music] something his wife an called the ambulance and hoo ended up at the Oslo University Hospital patches s and it was really scary and I had to uh the kids were crying because they've never seen heo like that you know they've seen him always like strong and and one moment they didn't understand why ambulance have to pick him [Music] up at the hospital hio was diagnosed with heart inflammation related to the [Music] vaccine while in the hospital hoo noticed worsening stiffness and pain in his joints and muscles symptoms of an autoimmune condition that rapidly escalated to become unbearable out of hao's many symptoms one of the most shocking ones was serious muscle spasms reminiscent of those observed in Parkinson's disease he like he like shaking I think that's kind of it worri is me and him cuz he's thinking maybe he have Parkinson but I'm always like no I don't think you have Parkinson but um it's just I don't know what is this that you're are shaking fortunately this condition eventually became milder but still resurfaces unpredictably or especially if I have to call or or send message then it's basically impossible uh because I don't feel my [Music] fingers his pools is really high even he's just like walking so that's kind of really unusual for heo cuz he always have like normal PS or even lower PS when we first showcased hao's story over two years ago he had endured 6 months of serious pain and was very frail despite this there was hope as he worked hard in Rehabilitation and showed signs of improvement in the spring of 2022 heo was even able able to ramp up his training although still stiff and in pain he pushed himself with swimming biking and short runs giving hope for a full recovery he even endured an entire [Music] race he has learned that periods of improvement are followed by his body reverting to disability improving in summer and worsening each winter he was at his Peak you know before all this happened and he could have been competing for years to come eight or 10 years at least left on on like a high level at these extreme races you know he was the toughest guy ever he was a badass and even looked really badass you know and he would get up in the morning maybe at 3:00 a.m. to go for a bike ride and or a swim or training and then he would go home wake up his kids prepare their food bring them to school or kindergarten and then he would go home and uh go to work basically it's kind of sad to see now what happened with hio and that is struggling you know I used to be always like laughing going around always happy doing my training after training coming home always like full of energy and now I'm sitting at home and trying to find some positive things you know but it's getting harder and harder I've seen him always in good shape before kids he used to training minimum 4 hours 3 hours like that's his shortest training days and then to see him not even getting up from the bed that's really that's really hard it's like you're just 40 years old and how could the body just collapse like that and it's just so hard for me to to process [Music] that while heiko's autoimmune symptoms noticeably improve in the summertime he endures debilitating muscle and joint pain in the cold Norwegian climate which on certain days is so severe that it paralyzes his daily life I have really high like pain tolerance because I used to do Iron Man but uh this pain is sometimes so horrible that grownup man basically want to cry I feel like someone hit a knife in my chint when you hear like kids playing and of course they always coming like yeah papa come down and come and play with us but uh like now it's like coming more and more this kind of days when I just uh when I just don't stand up and I say you know you have to play by [Music] yourself especially now when it's like over 20° minus outside so my body will will tell me right away what's going on outside pyo's compromised immune system leaves him constantly battling flu like symptoms headaches and fatigue I wake up many times at night every night the same problems I get cramps I have horrible pain so every morning when I have to wake up it's just so I'm tired because uh I haven't sleep well in the morning I feel somehow like I'm 90 years old the physical pain is horrific yet the mental part is starting to break his spirit it's been over two and a half year you know and it's start to totally to destroy me inside so it's like mentally and and everything is I get lot of support from her it's of course it's not easy for her uh I can't even imagine if I don't have uh like a supportive family and then they are always here they helping me with everything otherwise I I it's like even hard to think about how we I probably already gave up long long time ago you got some fishing holes here real explosive charges on I mean clearly there's something wrong with him that's obvious to us all we can see that in his physicality we can see that we've been walking on the lake today in the cold and you can see after 10 minutes he's in pain he's not this is not invented there's something wrong with him and it's progressively got worse and interestingly with hio because he's he's got such a strong mindset he's never really made a fuss about it he's he he says things I didn't have a good day I didn't have a you know I couldn't get up this morning whatever uh but he's always been very positive about it um but I've seen that get worse more recently which is worrying for for me to watch as a friend because I can see his mindset changing he's always been very positive and now there's a little bit of the dark side coming through now and again which I haven't seen before he's been struggling to get help you know he's been contacting all these doctors and and everything both in Norway and and abroad uh but it's it's uh difficult to get like a uh exact diagnosis I think heko senses a feeling of Abandonment by the national healthc care system and he feels that he's left without a diagnosis and the necessary treatment they still keep saying basically that you are not sick and that's so irritating we reviewed heiko's medical history prevaccination and found no issues with joints muscles heart or immune system aside from a fully recovered shoulder injury 20 years ago heo has been exceptionally healthy and injury-free [Music] what stands out is that immediately after vaccination is previously non-existent medical history was suddenly overwhelmed with serious health problems frequent doctor's visits and hospitalizations it took us days to go through hao's extensive postvaccination medical records once very healthy he developed an onslaught of symptoms in just a few months including neurological issues and a weakened immune system leading to frequent flu these health issues are not simply due to athletic wear and tear but indicate serious underlying autoimmune problems we carefully documented every instance of hao's symptoms mentioned in his medical visits concluding that his postvaccination symptom history is well [Music] documented medical professionals have identified initial heart inflammation from the vaccination regular heart activity noted during a stress test and abnormal blood test results aside from these findings heo appears healthy and his joints are in excellent condition during examinations showing no signs of inflammation or wear while Specialists attribute heiko's heart inflammation to the vaccination and some doctors haven't ruled out his other symptoms being vaccine related he is yet to receive a definitive diagnosis from the National Health Care System they don't know what's wrong with him I've been hearing exactly the same thing in every single of meeting no solution they don't want to take any extra they like yeah if you if you know some Des let me know or like who is the imun here is it me or is it you looking back Hao realizes the doctors didn't fully investigate the possibility of an autoimmune disease and didn't conduct all the necessary tests unable to find any help from the public healthc care sector hey KO had to seek answers in private clinics at his own expense placing a heavy financial burden on himself and his family after nearly a year of searching for answers heko finally found Clarity when Consulting with an esteemed immunologist in a private Clinic who diagnosed him with an autoimmune disease possibly related to the covid-19 vaccination the immune tests revealed an elevated autoimmune marker they diagnosed Auto disease so and now they saying it's chronical autoimmune disease that we can just control the syone with the stable glite and uh the medicine hoo uses an injectable medication for rheumatoid arthritis symptoms along with steroid tablets these drugs are commonly prescribed for autoimmune diseases to alleviate both inflammation and pain P hio finds his daily drug regimen an unpleasant procedure I I feel sometimes like I'm some drug addict some some every morning and every evening so I have to do [Music] it steroids they give in my legs I can walk I can't walk like 100% but at least I can walk and without steroids with this of kind of weather it's it's impossible I I I can't even move heo must avoid long-term use of steroids because of their strong side effects he has to find another solution yet he needs them desperately I'm freezing a lot and I don't tolerate the cold weather but uh my feet are so ice cold I basically don't feel them and it's here I don't feel anything else than just only like uncomfortable bin it's like you don't have any blood circulation going down there that he doesn't feel his legs especially on his feet cuz it's so cold and one moment he doesn't feel it and uh make uh water for him warm water for him to make his legs a bit warmer so mentally it's always up and down and there's some days it's extra heavy and then me and heo just need to talk about it how is he doing or how am I doing and really just try to be extra nice to each other yeah I have some uh present for you it's actually bod I need to check your feet you we've been together for so long so we know how to handle each other and uh I know I can see and I can feel if his day is kind of heavy the cost of heiko's health condition has not only ruined them financially but it has also caused them to lose the life they have so carefully crafted in Norway because heiko's Health deteriorates in the cold Norwegian months they have no other option but to move to Grand Canaria an island in Spain that has a warm climate all year round the warm temperatures should alleviate hao's symptoms I'm hoping it will help him cuz if it help him it will help me and it will help my kids I'm kind of open for the idea but at the same time I'm kind of scared because uh yeah we have two kids and uh I don't have a career in Spain I can't speak uh Spanish and it's new culture I know the kids they can adopt but I'm from Philippines you know I moved to Norway I'm 18 so I try to adopt the culture now I feel like uh I already adopted their culture I been living here for 18 years and I feel like moving again to another country and then adopt again another language and culture and food it's kind of it's kind of it's not easy it's not easy if you have two kids [Music] also about my kids that Norway is their home to move move to Spain with a whole family yeah it's not even close to something what we would like to do but it's the only possibility at at least some chance that one day I can live um normal life again and it's not only me it's all family everyone's suffering kids don't basically don't have a father in the winter time heo an and their two boys must Bid Farewell to their friends and loved ones in Norway [Applause] heo has to leave behind his community of friends and sports enthusiasts moving to Spain means additional expenses and uncertainty adding to the already astronomical cost of heiko's illness as heo is unable to sustain a full-time job and seeking help from private clinics has devastated them financially we couldn't keep up with all the bills so we are we are really behind we can still pay like basic need but uh uh yeah we just own own oh owe too much in last 2 and a half years we are basically lost everything we have been selling everything what we have at home bicycle skis we have been taking credit cards uh to just uh get some help from the private [Music] clinics we've been spending so much money so much resources time our mental health everything uh I need to get something back you know everything all the resources what we've been using here yeah yeah yeah hio had to hire lawyers to fight for compensation for his vaccine injury heko hoped for full compensation for his reduced income and all his medical expenses as quoted from the decision by patient injury compensation transient short-term pericarditis is linked to the vaccine and your client is entitled to compensation for this 2 and A2 years of a horrific nightmare heo would only receive about $140 in compensation the Norwegian system of patient injury compensation does not recognize any of heiko's autoimmune symptoms as vaccine related there is no permanent and significant injury there is no basis to claim that the vaccine can cause conditions such as fatigue tiredness or General Pain lasting Beyond 4 to 6 weeks such conditions occur frequently in the general population a and can be due to many factors in other words all of heiko's health problems except for the heart problem simply happen to occur coincidentally around the time of vaccination but are not caused by the vaccine heo appealed the compensation decision but the process can take a long time [Applause] over the years hio has remained committed to his Rehabilitation regimen showing up whenever his body allows him [Music] to without physical activity the pain and stiffness intensify in the morning I'm normally in Rehabilitation or swimming pool and uh evening evening uh I'm here with the keys he still focuses on what he's always focused on he tell he has a number of the number of Iron Man races he wants to do in the number of noran and the number of kelman and he still aims to finish them he still aims to complete that number [Applause] it's like it's my biggest battle in my life uh that's like I have to beat it I'm still fighting and I hope if I will get 80% of my health back where it used to be you know I will be really [Music] happy I know that he needs you know get his physique back again you know like with all the pains and he needs to be himself again and I just assume that he also need financial help because I know that he he hasn't been able to work for a while at not least fulltime anyway so uh any help hio can can get I think would be valuable if you'd like to support heko and his family in their journey to build a new life and continue the search for treatments and doctors please consider donating directly to heo [Music] hoo has decided to move to Spain for a month by himself to test how the warm weather impacts his health as well as to organize a new home and school for the kids hopefully this uh warm weather will help that I can get my life back all [Music] I'll see when the leaves fall down