Leading anti-vaxxer funeral director misses rally with Piers Corbyn after being admitted to ICU with 'very nasty' Covid - but urges followers NOT to go to hospital if they catch virus

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A leading British anti-vaxxer has admitted he 'felt terrible' after going into hospital with Covid-19 - a virus which he previously claimed was just a 'common cold'.

John O'Looney, of Milton Keynes, finally conceded that coronavirus was real and 'very nasty' after he was admitted to a hospital intensive care unit with it last month.

The 53-year-old funeral director has become a figurehead for anti-vaxxers with his social media videos that make unproven claims about the pandemic and vaccines.

He was due to help lead a controversial 'Let the UK Live' rally in the Buckinghamshire town last week alongside Piers Corbyn, brother of former Labour leader Jeremy.

But Mr O'Looney caught Covid-19 two weeks ago and went into hospital, with his experience forcing him to backtrack on claims the virus is actually just a cold.

However, Mr O'Looney said he would still 'urge people to avoid hospital at all costs' and that he managed to 'escape' by discharging himself against doctors' advice.

In a written statement to his followers, shared on December 31, he wrote: 'I was initially sceptical about Covid but I can confirm its validity and it is very nasty.

'So let us make no mistake there is an enemy to face but does it require endless bouts of injections after injections after injections?'

Writing about his experiences, he added: 'Very interestingly recently I was admitted to ICU in Milton Keynes hospital after developing Covid symptoms.

'I took three lateral flow tests whilst there and was told at the time I was not positive only to be told later on the ward I was positive so clearly it was inconclusive so I will say I felt and feel terrible still.' 

Mr O'Looney, who runs Milton Keynes Family Funeral Services, also complained that the hospital's food was 'appalling' and 'all tasted the same'.

He also claimed that doctors offered him a trial drug to help him recover but he 'declined and stuck to my guns'.

He was said to have discharged himself from hospital against doctors' advice.

Mr O'Looney added: 'I feel very fortunate to have escaped hospital (I never dreamt I would have lived to say that) with the help of family and friends.

'The sinister whispering, the secrecy and the guilty looks amongst certain members of staff spoke volumes to me.

'It was honestly very chilling and traumatising just seeing how it has changed - especially when I asked to leave.'

Mr O'Looney said that he was still opposed to Covid vaccines and urged parents to take their children out of school to avoid the jab.

He also urged his followers not to go to hospital if they catch the virus. He told followers of his Telegram message board to avoid hospital 'at all costs' and said that going into ICU was 'the most horrific and frightening experience of my life'.

Mr O'Looney said he managed to 'escape' hospital by discharging himself against doctors' advice - but said he still felt unwell more than ten days after doing so.

In a 600-word message, Mr O'Looney wrote: 'I'd urge people to avoid hospital at all costs personally based on my experience in it.

'There was no emphasis on healing me at all and the focus was only on getting me to agree to as many experimental drugs as the Oxford University rep could coerce me into agreeing to take.

'In fact in the few days I was in there I met a consultant just once briefly and for the time it took him to accept I wasn't going to be a guinea pig.'

He is believed to have left hospital on December 24 with the help of fellow anti-vaxxer Mark Sexton, who wrote on Facebook: 'John O'Looney is now back home with his family. We were able to get John home and into the care of a friend who is a private physician.

'A number of people were involved in making sure John was returned home safe and his care will continue accordingly by these medical professionals.'

But Mr O'Looney told his followers he is still unwell. He wrote: 'I still feel poisoned in honesty and recovery is slow.

'Even walking upstairs is a drain and I'm wondering when I will begin to pick up, it's demoralising. That said I do feel better than a week ago, it's just slow going.

'But I need to get back to work and that seems a way off yet sadly. Again I'd say I actually feel like I've been poisoned - this is my thing but a natural virus and these bastards have a lot to answer for.'

He has previously spoken at anti-vax events and was due to appear at a 'Freedom Rally' in Milton Keynes last week, where protestors stormed a children's pantomime and NHS test site.

Since his hospital stay, Mr O'Looney has been forced to temporarily close the funeral business that he has run since 2017 'due to illness'. 

In a video shared with followers just weeks before he was hospitalised with Covid, Mr O'Looney claimed that the Omicron variant was actually just a cold.

He said: 'We're in winter and there are colds and flus about at this time of the year. These people [who have been vaccinated] can't fight it off.

'The government were very quick to label it as Omicron, a new variant. They are sick but they are sick with basic things like the common cold.'

Last week Home Secretary Priti Patel slammed the anti-vaxxers who stormed a test and trace centre in Milton Keynes, with the mob also disrupting a pantomime.

Dozens of marchers entered a testing facility. and were seen damaging signs and stealing testing equipment in videos shared on social media on on December 29.

The group also entered Milton Keynes Theatre during their march, with their protest seeing 'staff and patrons frightened and assaulted', the arts venue said.

In a video, a group including Piers Corbyn could be seen chanting and holding signs in the theatre foyer, as a matinee performance went on inside.

Mr Corbyn, the older brother of former Labour leader Jeremy, was arrested on suspicion of encouraging people to attack MPs' offices earlier this month. 

Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at Oxford University and a member of the Vaccine Task Force, told Times Radio that the group were 'crazy'.