febrile convulsion following the MMR

“One searing memory I have, just after the birth of our first daughter, 33 years ago, was my husband and I walking into the hospital nursery where the pediatrician was checking her, and when we approached him, he held her up, and looking at her with great delight, said to us, ‘She is a perfect little baby girl!’

Fifteen months later, she had a febrile convulsion following the MMR injection. From that day onwards, the blank stare that inhabited her little body will haunt me for the rest of my life. 

She was never the same again. We noticed an increased tendency to stare blankly; she would avoid direct eye contact; she was tactile defensive, pulling away from hugs; she would be happy to sit for hours not demanding any attention. 

Prior to that incident, she had reactions to each of her Triple Antigen injections, given in the first six months. Each time she developed a rash and a fever, but the doctor and Health Clinic nurses insisted it was nothing to worry about and it would pass. She had had at least two ear infections during her first year of life. 

I have no doubt that the onslaught to her system began with the first injection, with the trigger being pulled via the MMR, which led her and us down a path to a new and alien world of autism.

On the follow up GP visit, he told us that she should not have the Whooping Cough part of the inoculation again, but it was fine to have the others. Like a dutiful and naïve young new parent - despite an uneasiness that I did not then understand - I continued with her normal childhood shots, albeit few compared to the current schedule that newborns are subjected to.

So, how did our ‘perfect little baby girl’ go from perfect to autistic?

There have been many parents I’ve met over the years who say they would not change anything for the world. But I am more brutal with the truth.

There is not a day I don’t wish that our daughter could have experienced a regular life – one where she could go out and laugh with her circle of girlfriends, date a nice boy or two, learn to drive a car, play whatever sport she chose, decide what clothes she needed to buy, visit me on a Sunday and say...” Hey, Mum, let’s go out for lunch!’

Yes, she has taught me more than I could ever have learned otherwise, and our family’s situation has forced me to be stronger than perhaps I would have been. But I still would choose a regular life for her.

Big Pharma stole our daughter’s regular life. 
​
And I will not stand by and do nothing to help stem the flow of their poisonous ventures.

---