13-year-old Chantele Nielsen went to get a vaccine against cervical cancer in April. Since then, she’s been unable to carry out her daily life without the support of her mother.
Mother Leissa Nielsen claims that since her daughter got vaccinated, Chantele has been fainting multiple times a day, sleeping irregularly, and suffers from headaches and memory loss. Leissa fears for her daughter’s safety because the fainting episodes are so abrupt. “Sometimes [Chantele] will suddenly faint, which lasts about 30 seconds, but then she will go into a deep sleep.”
Each time Chantele wakes from one of these episodes, she suffers varying degrees of memory loss. One time, she couldn’t remember what day it was or do simple math problems. Another time, Leissa recalls, her daughter had forgotten who she was and had even asked her, “Who are you? You’re not my mum.”
For Chantele, the experience is just as awful. Even when unconscious, she can hear her mother trying to talk to her, but has no ability to respond because of temporary paralysis. Whenever Chantele needs to leave the house, her mother always takes her around in a wheelchair, fearing that Chantele will faint at any moment and fall, severely injuring herself.
Before Leissa had taken Chantele to get the HPV vaccine, they did take a look at the informational pamphlet regarding the side effects and cautions of the vaccine. The pamphlet only wrote that side effects are “quite mild,” and that a physical reaction around the area of the shot is “common but wear[s] off in a couple of days.” The only note it included about more extreme side effects was as follows: “more side effects are extremely rare.”
Leissa has taken her daughter to numerous doctors who have run blood tests and conducted CT scans as well as ECGs. But all the results proved to be inconclusive. The doctors can’t find anything wrong with Chantele.
Chantele hasn’t been attending school because the staff can’t guarantee her safety. In the meantime, Leissa has been searching for answers online, finding the support group UK Association of HPV Vaccine Injured Daughters and starting a fundraiser to raise money to send Chantele to other doctors in Germany to conduct more tests.
“I just want [Chantele] to be the 13-year-old girl she should be – living a normal life,” Leissa says.
