Gaia Young 25-years-old Passed Away After Received Her Second Cov Jab
By Dan Sales For Mailonline
- Gaia Young, 25, was the daughter of late Labour peer Lord Michael Young
- She had said she had felt ill on July 21 and believed she had heatstroke
- Less than a day after she was rushed to hospital she had tragically died
Writer and commentator Toby Young’s half sister has died suddenly after complaining of a headache.
Gaia Young, 25, passed away on July 21 after being rushed to hospital after falling ill during a heatwave.
She had taken ill during dinner and lay herself down on the sofa in the family’s front room to recover.
Gaia was the daughter of Lord Michael Young who died, aged 86, when she was just five.
Her death is currently being treated as unexplained because the first post-mortem carried out on her came back inconclusive. She tested negative for Covid in hospital.
She is the half-sister of writer and journalist Mr Young, because Lord Young was also his father.
Her mother Dorit said: ‘Suddenly she removes herself from the table. We didn’t even notice it at first.
‘Then she rings through the landline to say “Mum I have a very bad headache, I’m in the front room”.
Gaia Young, 25, was the daughter of Labour Lord Michael Young, who died when she was five
‘Gaia herself thought she had a heatstroke.
‘But an hour later she was viciously vomiting and by 9.30pm the ambulance came, I sat in there with her,’ she added to the Evening Standard.
An ambulance took her to University College London Hospital but less than a day later she was declared brain dead.
The graduate, who was healthy received her second Covid jab in March, and her death is not understood to be vaccine-related.
The family held a funeral for Gaia’s passing last week.
A UCLH spokesperson said: ‘Our deepest sympathies go to Gaia’s loved ones at this very sad and difficult time. We are in contact with her family and reviewing the circumstances leading to her death.’
Her half-brother, Toby Young, said in a statement: ‘It’s an unspeakable tragedy for which there’s no apparent explanation.
‘Gaia ate healthily, exercised regularly, did not take drugs and only drank occasionally and in moderation.
‘No doubt some people will speculate that her sudden death was a rare side effect of the Covid vaccine, but she had her second jab in March, some four months earlier, so on the face of it that seems unlikely.
‘She tested negative for Covid in the hospital.
‘The death of a family member is always difficult to bear, but for a healthy 25 year-old to be suddenly taken from you is particularly hard.
‘She was a lovely person – kind, funny, clever, creative, loyal, conscientious, endlessly curious.
‘She had the world at her feet. I know we don’t live in a just universe, but in spite of that Gaia’s death feels terribly unjust.’
A fundraiser, set up by Dorit and friend Busayo Agbetuyi has already raised more than £9,000 for the three charities – The Little Princess Trust, The Skid Row Running Club and the Covid-19 Homeless Taskforce – that Gaia supported.
Tributes on the fundraising page read: ‘With great sadness we announce the death of our great friend Gaia Young, who unexpectedly and suddenly passed away on Wednesday 21st July 2021 at the age of 25.
‘Anyone who had the pleasure of knowing Gaia, will remember her kindness, intelligence, creativity, free spirited nature and her bravery in always being her authentic self.
‘Our sadness of her passing is more than words can say.’
Bristol history graduate Gaia was researching her family tree for a book about her father.
Lord Young wrote the Labour Party’s ‘Let Us Face the Future’ manifesto back in 1945.
Mrs Young added: ‘It was important to her because we were our own unit standing slightly to the side of the family.
‘Her half-siblings are much older than her and I had a big age gap between me and Michael.
‘She wanted so desperately to be part of the family and she was an amazing historian. We were a formidable team.
‘The moment Gaia saw someone in need she would move into action. That is exactly something her dad used to do’, Ms Young said.
‘She was following in his footsteps. There is no end to what she could have achieved.
‘I miss her inspiration, her way of doing things so differently to me, I miss her telling me off.
‘I miss seeing her every morning coming down the stairs in a fantastic new outfit.’
