By Trish Dennis at Brownstone dot org.

In 2020, the world I thought I knew fell away. Nothing in my life prepared me for what unfolded from March 2020 onwards. It was a rupture that left me reeling, stunned, and disoriented. I felt reborn into a world I barely recognised, one where governments and trusted institutions turned on their own people.

I had always believed that, for the most part, the medical profession and public health agencies acted in good faith. But over the course of the pandemic years, that belief and trust were eroded as I saw malign patterns and policies emerge, policies that stripped patients of autonomy and dignity, and even in many cases, their lives. And these policies were not just misguided but deliberately systemic.

Last month, I was contacted by Teresa Cichewicz. As a regular reader of Brownstone Institute, Teresa had come across some of my articles, and she invited me to join her and her co-founder, Gail Seiler, on the podcast to discuss their work and to compare notes with me on the similarities and differences in the approach taken by the UK and Ireland during the pandemic. It was a deeply engaging conversation that left me feeling heartened and inspired.

This arose from Teresa and Gail's determination to confront the systemic failures that claimed so many lives during the pandemic. The organisation's stated mission is to document and expose the ethical and procedural breaches that occurred under government-mandated protocols, to support witnesses in sharing their experiences, and to pursue meaningful accountability and reform. By compiling detailed medical records, sworn testimonies, and survivor accounts, the aim is to create a factual record that can challenge official narratives and guide future policy change. Teresa and Gail have worked on this with quiet determination, grounded in the belief that truth and justice belong together, and that remembering and bearing witness is the first step toward repair.

The work of the Project began not in boardrooms or laboratories, but in hospital corridors and grief-stricken living rooms, speaking with families desperate to make sense of the suffering they had witnessed. From that personal crucible, the project emerges as both testimony and indictment, clearly and painfully illustrating that what unfolded in those years was not a series of tragic mistakes but a pattern of institutional betrayal demanding exposure.

Teresa's personal story speaks to the human cost of these failures. Her father, Robert Anthony Michanowicz, entered a Pennsylvania hospital in 2021 needing only oxygen support, but was rapidly placed on the Covid protocol without informed consent. Staff isolated him from family, discouraged communication, and ignored repeated requests for alternative treatments such as ivermectin. He was instead given Remdesivir and later morphine, despite warnings about his kidney condition. He became dehydrated, confused, and increasingly weak while nurses failed to provide even basic care. Within days, his organs failed, and he died alone. Teresa and her family maintain that rigid adherence to federal protocols replaced medical judgment and basic compassion, a cruelty disguised as care.

Only days later, Teresa witnessed another tragedy within her own community. Jessica Halgren, a young mother of six, twenty-eight weeks pregnant with her seventh child, fell ill with Covid-19 that quickly developed into pneumonia. When her oxygen levels dropped to 85, she went to the emergency department, terrified for her baby's safety. Jessica's husband, Matt, was turned away at the door as she was transferred by ambulance to another hospital. For several days, Jessica communicated with her family only by text. Doctors then informed Matt that they needed to perform an emergency caesarean to save the baby.

On December 4, the hospital said Jessica had to be ventilated, which she resisted, telling her husband, "If they vent me, I won't make it out." Sedated and restrained, J...