'These numbers mean absolutely nothing when your child is lying in intensive care fighting for his life,” says Cathy, whose son asked that their last name not be used. “Then the odds are more like one in one.” Her son Michael was a strapping, fit 26-year-old hospital worker who began complaining of tingling in his feet four weeks after his H1N1 shot. On Dec. 5, as he was losing feeling in his legs, his mom rushed him to St. Joseph’s hospital. A spinal tap confirmed GBS. And then he deteriorated so quickly that he spent four days in intensive care, completely paralyzed'
'“It was brutal,” Michael recalls, back at his Etobicoke home. “You’re trapped inside your brain. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even swallow my own spit. It was hell and there was a time I just wanted to die.” He’s one of the lucky ones. His recovery has been almost as stunningly quick as his descent into paralysis. After a month in hospital and two weeks at West Park rehab, he’s weak, but walking again. “It feels like a bad dream,” he says. But not for his mother.
'She wrote a scathing letter to several health officials, including Dr. David Butler-Jones, Canada’s chief medical officer of health who has spent months urging everyone to get their H1N1 shot. “I look forward to your replies as to how you can compensate Michael for his pain and suffering since all health officials promise over and over again that the H1N1 vaccine is safe,” she wrote. “What will you do for unlucky people such as Michael?” A month later, and no one has even had the decency to reply.'
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