Think twice before getting flu shot

Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

This is a warning to those who are scrambling to get flu shots.

In November 2007 my father got a flu shot. By the second week of December 2007, he was paralyzed from the neck down. He was not only paralyzed, but he has also lost all bladder function to this day. He spent almost three months in the hospital, only to leave in a wheelchair.

I am 32 and my whole life this man has had no more than the common cold. That flu shot ruined his quality of life.

Everyone is out here encouraging people to get flu shots, and no one is telling them the risks. To date my father cannot walk without a walker, he still has no control over his bladder, spends Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays in Baltimore doing therapy. There was no sign when he got his shot that this could happen. I'm sure he would have much rather had the flu than for his quality of life to have been reduced to this agony.

Please people, think twice before you get this shot. It's not even 100 percent flu-proof. Suffer with the flu for a week, or risk being paralyzed and having your life ruined.

Dawn L. Rye, Indian Head