Sharks prop reveals Covid meant he ‘couldn’t breathe’ despite being double jabbed 

Cronulla enforcer Braden Hamlin-Uele has urged any player on the fence about Covid vaccination to get the jab after the virus floored the prop for almost a month and required the intervention of a heart specialist.

Hamlin-Uele was double vaccinated when he contracted the virus on December 23 last year and struggled to breathe before experiencing severe fatigue for almost a month. 

The Sharks forward will return to NRL action on Saturday night against Parramatta along with coach Craig Fitzgibbon, who was ruled out of round one because of Covid protocols.

Hamlin-Uele is a healthy athlete who was double vaccinated. He warned that the virus impacts everyone differently and said people should listen to doctors and scientists.

While the prop is back to full health now, he revealed how much Covid impacted him.

‘I couldn’t breathe properly, and my heart rate was well over 90 beats per minute when I was doing nothing,’ Hamlin-Uele told the Sydney Morning Herald.

‘I was just really tired and had the aches and pains. Even when I came out of isolation, I’d go for a walk and wouldn’t be able to handle it.

‘I ended up going to hospital over on the north shore for respiratory testing, then later went to another clinic in Sutherland. They found no blockages.

‘I was never one to say, ‘Covid is just like the flu’. It’s definitely not. It might not affect you, but it will affect someone else worse. I’ve never had any issues with colds in the past. But I was rocked by this one.’   

Melbourne Storm forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona was vocal in his opposition to the Covid-19 vaccine but has been granted an exemption to play in the NRL for now

A number of league players, including Canberra’s Josh Papalii and Melbourne’s Nelson Asofa-Solomona, have declined vaccinations and are playing under a federal exemption, which is only valid for four months. It expires in May. Some, like Cowboys star Jason Taumalolo, refuse to answer questions about being vaccinated against Covid-19.

North Queensland Cowboys co-captain Jason Taumalolo has not revealed his Covid vaccination status and wants to keep his health decisions private

Hamlin-Uele said it was not his place to judge the players who resisted the vaccination, but he wondered how much worse he could have been without the second vaccination.

‘[If they’re not vaccinated], that’s on them,’ Hamlin-Uele said.

‘People can be anti-government, but don’t be anti-medicine or anti-science – those people are there to help you, they’re not against you.’

Hamlin-Uele said it was not his place to judge the players who resisted the vaccination, but he wondered how much worse he could have been without the second vaccination.