Anti-Vaxxer YouTube Duo from Huntsville, Alabama Die of COVID-19 Weeks Apart
An Alabama couple known for their thrifty travels and ardent opposition to COVID-19 vaccines both died from the virus within weeks of each other.
Dusty and Tristan Graham operated an e-commerce operation called "Alabama Pickers," where they would travel around the state and purchase antique relics to re-sell on eBay. The Huntsville couple documented their journey on a YouTube channel, which has since been deleted.
Dusty and Tristan were not fans of the COVID-19 vaccine, and often spoke against it on their channel. Most of their videos were filmed in their vehicle, where they would document their picking journey and vlog about their life together.
The news of their deaths was shared on a GoFundMe page that was originally started last month to help pay for Tristan's funeral bills after she contracted the virus and died.
"Dusty here from Alabama Pickers," the fundraiser read. "Tristan passed suddenly in her sleep on Wednesday, due to Covid complications. I’m currently in ICU myself, battling it out, but will be looking at multiple Expenses within the next week: Medical, Funeral, Burial Plot, Expenses, Casket, etc!
"I would like to have a little left over to help Gabe and Windsor out," the post continued. "Anything you can find in your heart, will be SO APPRECIATED!! We love you guys!!"
Windsor, Dusty and Tristan's daughter, updated the fundraiser on Wednesday to inform donors that her father had also died.
"Thank you all for your kind words and helping us during this difficult time," Windsor's update read. "We will be using the money to pay for funeral expenses."
At the time of this article's publication, the fundraiser has reached $23,500 of its $35,000 goal. More than 400 have donated to the fundraiser, which has been shared 1,600 times.
One of the Grahams' final YouTube videos was reposted to a channel under the name "Vaxx Man." The 93-minute video, entitled "We are ALIVE and still Reselling" contains a minutes-long discussion from Dusty about his refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
In the video, Dusty remarks that he will wear a face mask to "make people happy," though he illustrates that he will only wear it over his mouth and not over his nose. He also claims that the pandemic will "be all behind us in a couple of years" and compared the COVID-19 vaccine's predicted slip from relevancy to smallpox and yellow fever.
"Still have not gotten the you-know-what. Still not planning on getting it," Dusty said in the video. "I've got my own passport. It's called my birth certificate and the Constitution."
Dusty also claimed that the vaccine is not a vaccine at all, but "immunity therapy."
Tristan, in the video, briefly discussed surviving bone cancer and agreed with Dusty that if they have survived all they've been through together up until that point, then surely they would be fine against COVID-19.
There is currently no word on funeral arrangements for the couple.