Tara Hills (below), a mother of seven from Ottawa, vaccinated her first three kids as any decent parent would (albeit on an alternative schedule so they hadn’t received them all yet). But then she backed off completely for the other four.

So none of her kids had the full slate of vaccinations:

… We stopped because we were scared and didn’t know who to trust. Was the medical community just paid off puppets of a Big Pharma-Government-Media conspiracy? Were these vaccines even necessary in this day and age? Were we unwittingly doing greater harm than help to our beloved children? So much smoke must mean a fire so we defaulted to the ‘do nothing and hope nothing bad happens’ position.

But something bad did happen. All seven of them developed whooping cough, leading to the quarantining of the kids and partial quarantining of Hills. She wrote about the experience, not to provide ammo for the pro-vaccination side, but to warn those parents who continue to question vaccinations that they should stop worrying and get their kids protected:

I said before that the irony isn’t lost on me that I’m writing this from quarantine. For six years we were frozen in fear from vaccines, and now we are frozen because of the disease. My oldest two are getting better, the youngest four are getting worse and fast. Ottawa Public Health has been so helpful and communicative, trying to get us the help we need while keeping the community safe. We are under quarantine and starting antibiotics. Tonight, the baby started ‘whooping’. I did the right thing going to the hospital when I did. I can only hope this painfully honest sharing will help others. … Vaccination is a serious decision about our personal and public health that can’t be made out of fear, capitulation or following any crowd. No one was more surprised than us to find solid answers that actually laid our fears to rest. I am confident that anyone with questions can find answers. I would only advise them to check your biases, sources and calendar: Time waits for no parent.

It’s always a tough thing to admit a mistake. To do it publicly like Hills did is pretty damn courageous. If anti-vaxxers won’t listen to scientists, maybe they’ll listen to a mother who was, until a short time ago, just like them.

(via Sean McGuire)



