https://www.reignitedemocracyaustralia.com.au/wa-officer-reaction/
This is my story…My name is Chantal, I’m a 37 year old Police Officer
from Western Australia and I had a severe reaction after receiving the
Pfizer vaccine.
To the people who threatened me with defamation charges and
disciplinary action for telling my story, I am disappointed. I’m
disappointed that your priority is to silence me for your own ego and
agenda rather than ask if I’m ok and offer me any help! At no time have
you asked if I’m ok or cared for a second about my health or welfare.
You decided that putting me under more stress, when that stress can
cause further risk to my life is your priority. It makes me question
humanity and how any person can have such a lack of empathy towards
another.
If defamation and disciplinary action is what you deem suitable than
I’m not afraid. I’ve done nothing wrong, I did what you wanted and look
what happened. No one has the right to take away anyone else’s
experiences or tell them how they should feel. Please believe me when I
say, there is nothing that you can do to me that will even compare to
what I am currently experiencing. Treating someone in this way is never
ok and if people can take any lesson away from this then please stand up
for yourself. Set standards as to how you should be treated and don’t
ever be silent if someone is treating you poorly regardless of their
relationship to you.
To all the people who have told me that my experience isn’t real and
that this could never be true. Before you tell anyone that they are a
liar or voice your opinion, ask yourself two things. Firstly. Do I have
all the information to voice my opinion and challenge the experience of
another and secondly, am I qualified in voicing this opinion.
In August, my employer announced that anyone who was not vaccinated
against COVID would be treated differently by having to wear masks at
all times in the workplace; excluded from buildings and moved out of
their positions that they have worked hard for into office type roles if
they are not vaccinated. (confirmed by an industrial relations staff
member). This announcement is no secret to the community as it was
published on the front page of the West Australian newspaper.
Prior to this announcement, I had decided I was not getting the
vaccine. I am entitled to my choice. Please note that I am not an
anti-vaxer as some may call it, but I make decisions based around having
sufficient information available to me which I believed and still
believe I do not have. My reasons for not getting the vaccine should not
be anyone else’s business but for the purposes of this post I am
including it. For me, there are insufficient studies on long term health
issues and the vaccine didn’t meet the usual safety checks which makes
me uncomfortable. I had never had a flu vaccine in my life and I had not
had a flu since 2009. I believe in good nutrition and always use
nutrition to cure ailments wherever possible. I created a company based
on this premise and I am very successful. I had also had a reaction to
an unknown allergy and wanted to wait to speak to an immunologist prior
to making a definite decision. However, this appointment was two months
off. I felt as though I didn’t really have a choice. I was worried that I
would be moved out of my position which is seen as a privileged role.
The morning of my appointment, I was really scared about getting the
vaccine as I knew it wasn’t right for me. I spoke to the doctor about my
concerns and she was willing to write me a letter to delay it but asked
me what would that mean for my job. I didn’t know and it worried me.
That day she had spoken to a lot of people from my job and she said that
a lot of them felt threatened and put into a position to make a choice
that they didn’t want to and whilst in the waiting room, my colleagues
told me the same thing. The doctor told me that she was concerned about
giving the vaccine to people who weren’t doing it freely by their own
choice. Sadly, I joked with the doctor saying “I’ll be the one the
vaccine kills.” Sadly, it could have.
Within 10 minutes of getting the Pfizer vaccine, I got vertigo and
nausea and within 15 minutes I had hives all over me. The doctor and
ambulance officer got the rash under control but as soon as I got home I
had a fever, chills and felt very unwell. For the following 3.5 weeks I
suffered rashes every day, fevers as high as 39.7, aching muscles, flu
like symptoms, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, pressure in my sinuses and a
cough so bad that it felt like my blood vessels were going to explode in
my face. Some days I cried because I thought I was going to die. I was
so sick. When I thought I was starting to get better, I still had
extreme fatigue and was constantly light headed. I went back to work but
spent a lot of time laying on my office floor and struggling to get
through the day.
On a Tuesday night, I noticed that my eyes felt weird. They had a
heavy feeling and felt like they needed rubbing all the time. The next
morning I woke up to go to work and one eye wouldn’t open and the other
wouldn’t close. The one that wouldn’t close also wouldn’t blink. I
thought that I had allergies so I took an antihistamine and drove one
hour to work. By 9:00am, I felt my top lip go a bit funny and my work
colleague told me that my face was drooping sideways and she was taking
me to emergency. I will be forever grateful for her making me go as she
saved my life.
Within 1 minute of being at emergency, everyone was rushing around me
and I started to panic. Next second I’m getting wired up to machines
and a stroke specialist and multiple other doctors and nurses were in my
cubicle. I was admitted to hospital.
The next morning, I got up and had a shower but instead I ended up
having a stroke. I was in the shower by myself and my body started
waving uncontrollably and the right side of my body got a weird
sensation. I could no longer stand and I was on the floor scared. My
right side got really heavy and felt numb with a weird pins and needles
type of sensation. At this stage the left side of my face was fully
paralysed and I had extreme muscle weakness in my left arm and leg.
I was taken for more tests which showed that the main artery to my
brain had a rupture and I had suffered a mini stroke (TIA). I was
transferred to the stroke ward at a different hospital that day and from
that moment on, I was monitored hourly.
I can’t tell you how scary it was being in a stroke ward with all
elderly patients thinking what the hell am I doing here. I was tested
for every illness and nutrient deficiency that could cause a stroke and
the doctor said I was perfectly healthy and had no possible cause to
what had happened to me.
While in hospital, I was monitored hourly. It was crazy. No sleep,
and I was constantly scared that it would happen again. I couldn’t eat
or drink properly and dribbled everything down the side of my face. It
was humiliating. This was a minor issue for the doctors but for a 37
year old girl, it was a big deal. I was told that there was a 25% chance
it wouldn’t heal and if it did, it would take months. This by itself
was highly distressing.
I cried multiple times a day. It was mentally hard to get through
every moment. I was not allowed to move at first but the nurses let me
have bathroom privileges because going to the bathroom in a tray was too
upsetting for me. If I moved too much or too fast I could have another
stroke.
I was unable to have any treatment as the doctors deemed it too
unsafe so the only thing that the doctors and I could do was wait and
hope that my artery will heal itself. This will take a long time and in
the mean time, my usual activities are on hold.
When I was discharged from the hospital, I was really happy as I
couldn’t stand being locked up in the hospital. Don’t get me wrong, my
nurses and doctors were amazing and I can’t say one thing wrong about
their efforts and caring nature. However, it was so scary being home
without the constant care. I wasn’t allowed to be left alone and the
risk of having another stroke was and still is very high. I was in
constant fear and even though my confidence is increasing, I still worry
every second. I am further away from instant care and the risk of
permanent brain damage is very real. I now also suffer constant nose
bleeds and painful joints.
I was booked in for an appointment at the vaccine safety clinic.
Sadly, there were about twenty other women the same age as me sitting
around waiting. I didn’t really understand what the appointment was
about until I was taken into a private room with a doctor who tried to
tell me that the vaccine had nothing to do with what had happened to me
but then also couldn’t tell me that it didn’t. He sat in his chair
stating that it was worth the risk of having another stroke to get my
second Pfizer shot. How can a doctor sit there and tell someone those
things. He was willing to risk my life to meet what I believe his goal
to be of getting as many people vaccinated as possible. He didn’t care
about my safety and even asked after I refused the vaccine if I wanted
him to call me back in three months time to see if I changed my mind.
There was no respect for my decision.
The mental side of this is very hard and has required a lot of
strength. I am a very active and busy person and to go from that to only
being aloud to walk around the house is highly distressing. I have to
be very aware of my mental health and I can’t thank my partner and
friends enough for dropping everything to help and support me. I am very
lucky.
I don’t want anything from telling my story accept the
acknowledgement that no vaccine or medical procedure is safe for
everyone. This is not my opinion, this is fact and the COVID vaccine is
no exception. No one has the right to tell someone else that they have
to put something in their body as they don’t know the risks to that
person. It is causing a sad division in our society and not making
anyone happy. If you choose to have the vaccine then great and if you
don’t then that is ok too. Please be kind to each other and treat each
other fairly and equally, we all deserve it.
- Photo was me in hospital showing left side facial paralysis.
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