As anti-vaxxers continue to threaten the public health with their crusade against vaccinations, one woman decided to tell her story to inspire people around the globe to vaccinate despite being struck by a severe side-effect of a vaccine for tetanus and diphtheria.
In December 2014, a major measles outbreak occurred after a person with the virus infected others at Disneyland in California, resulting in 147 cases through February 2015. Later that summer, a woman in Washington state became the first American in 12 years to die from measles, a virus that had been declared wiped out in this country back in 2000.
Many measles cases are a result of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children, leaving them vulnerable to contracting the virus and passing it on to others who also are not vaccinated or to older individuals whose previous vaccination has worn off over time.
The reason why the MMR vaccine exists is to save lives from a disease that once claimed the lives of millions, but anti-vaxxers believe the vaccine causes autism or are scared of real possible side-effects that are very rare. The problem is that not vaccinating our children weakens the overall herd immunity and once that starts to unravel, the population as a whole is threatened.
Unfortunately the anti-vaxxer movement is growing, and even President Donald Trump appears to support their cause even though countless medical professionals and scientists say vaccines are safe and are necessary to prevent deadly diseases from returning.
But if anti-vaxxers won’t believe doctors, perhaps they’ll listen to Tiffany Yonts, a woman in California who bravely continues to advocate in favor of vaccinations despite being significantly harmed by one at the age of 14, when her life changed forever after developing Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a debilitating auto-immune disease.
She told her story in the following Twitter thread:
when i was 14, i received a tetanus-diphtheria vaccine as part of a routine physical. as a competitive swimmer, i was in fantastic shape. my health & my fitness were my life. i was strong, had amazing lung capacity, & rarely caught more than a cold. that changed overnight.
— blue speed mouse. (@clemfairie) June 8, 2018
my arm tripled in size from the injection & was very painful. i started to have trouble breathing. then most of the muscles in my body stopped working. i developed pneumonia & was bedridden for approximately 6 months. i could barely move or breathe. i almost died.
— blue speed mouse. (@clemfairie) June 8, 2018
i began to struggle with random paralysis. breathing remained painful & difficult due to a mostly paralyzed diaphragm (which remained that way for 5 years). my muscles atrophied seemingly instantly. i began to exhibit stroke-like symptoms. i had to use a wheelchair.
— blue speed mouse. (@clemfairie) June 8, 2018
it was a waking nightmare, made worse by the lack of a diagnosis. it took 2 years for us to find a name for my condition: guillain-barre syndrome, officially listed as a possible side-effect of the tetanus-diphtheria vaccine a whole year after i contracted it.
— blue speed mouse. (@clemfairie) June 8, 2018
only 30% of guillain-barre patients continue to exhibit symptoms after 3 years. only 3% ever relapse. i am a part of both groups. it’s been 14 years since the original incident, which took around 6 years to begin to significantly recover from. i relapsed last spring.
— blue speed mouse. (@clemfairie) June 8, 2018
i spent many days lying on the floor gasping for air. i couldn’t sit up for more than 5 minutes at a time. i still have to use a wheelchair if i go somewhere i have to walk for more than an hour or two. it’s physically impossible for me to complete my hygiene routine at one time.
— blue speed mouse. (@clemfairie) June 8, 2018
that vaccine, in many ways, destroyed my life. i will always have gbs & i will always have serious symptoms. i could relapse again at any time & there is nothing that any doctor can do for me. there is no treatment. this is my reality for the rest of my life.
— blue speed mouse. (@clemfairie) June 8, 2018
so many would assume that i’m anti-vaccine. which is entirely, thoroughly, grossly incorrect. i am an unwavering supporter of vaccinations for every single person who can receive one. (that does not include immune-compromised individuals, which i also am.)
— blue speed mouse. (@clemfairie) June 8, 2018
what happened to me has a literal one in a million chance of occurring. yes, i’ve suffered. i’ve suffered more than i can explain & i continue to suffer. but i’m the one in a million. i’m the outlying statistic that’s a grim necessity for the majority of people to be healthy.
— blue speed mouse. (@clemfairie) June 8, 2018
there is nothing in modern medicine that comes without risks. there’s nothing in LIFE that comes without risks. i understand that & everyone else should too. there have to be people like me if the majority of people are going to stay safe & healthy. that’s reality.
— blue speed mouse. (@clemfairie) June 8, 2018
vaccines have done & continue to do so much good for the health of the general public. a few sad stories like mine don’t change that. it hasn’t changed it for me & it shouldn’t change it for any of you.
— blue speed mouse. (@clemfairie) June 8, 2018
when you don’t get vaccinated, you put at risk the lives of all of the people like me who CAN’T be vaccinated. you are literally playing russian roulette with OUR lives because you’re nervous about a one in a million statistic. that’s beyond selfish & there’s no excuse.
— blue speed mouse. (@clemfairie) June 8, 2018
keep the public healthy & safe. keep US healthy & safe. get vaccinated. get your children vaccinated. stop listening to conspiracy theories & look at actual statistics. think about the people with cancer & serious auto-immune illnesses that a lack of vaccinations puts at risk.
— blue speed mouse. (@clemfairie) June 8, 2018
do the right thing–the socially conscious & caring thing–& get vaccinated. thank you.
— blue speed mouse. (@clemfairie) June 8, 2018
(also, it’s better for your health & your children’s health, anyway. in case caring for the general public isn’t your thing. again, statistics. read them.)
— blue speed mouse. (@clemfairie) June 8, 2018
Yonts could have become a skeptic of vaccines and could have joined the anti-vaxxer movement as the face of their cause. But she didn’t. Instead, she understands that vaccines save millions of lives compared to the rare few such as herself who have truly horrific experiences after being vaccinated. And by sharing her story, Yonts is inspiring parents to vaccinate their kids, therefore saving lives, too.
Featured Image: Wikimedia
