We asked why this had happened, and the doctor said it was most likely a reaction to either a vaccination or an airborne virus, the latter being rejected since he'd had no signs of illness.  The doctor then slammed the door shut on further discussion of how our healthy son went from walking to being paralyzed.  There was no investigation to specifically determine what had caused our child to go from walking and running into a wheelchair for the rest of his life.  At a later date, we took our son to Johns Hopkins for further testing.  There, doctors investigated every possible reason why our son might have become paralyzed from Transverse Myelitis, every possible reason except for vaccines.  This made no sense then, and it makes no sense now, as every doctor that Otto saw at four different hospitals mentioned that the vaccines he received in close proximity to his paralysis were the most likely culprit.  
 
As Otto's parents, we relive the moments before our son became paralyzed, trying to determine where things went wrong.  We think back upon the fact that we received absolutely no informed consent regarding what was done to our 21-lb. son that day in the doctor's office at his 17-month check-up. Our pediatrician did not inquire as to our family's health history.  Our pediatrician did not ask if Otto, my wife, or I were allergic to any of the ingredients in the multiple vaccines he would be receiving.  He did not review each and every package insert with us, including contraindications, possible side effects, and warning signs to be on the lookout for that would require immediate medical attention, as is done at the pharmacy when any other prescription medication is given, with the exception of vaccines.  Not only did he not review them with us, he did not even show them to us so that we could review them ourselves!  He also neglected to mention that not one vaccine ever been tested using the scientific gold standard, that of a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.  Rather, vaccines are tested against other vaccines, combinations of vaccines, or adjuvants, the ingredients which wreak much of the havoc to begin with. To add to our shock and horror, multiple vaccines given at one time have never been studied, either, despite being administered in random, multiple combinations day in and day out to millions of children!

Not even one doctor thought to call the FDA, CDC, CHPH, or HHS after our son's vaccine injury.  Not one doctor filed the appropriate and required report to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) after his injury, as required by The National Childhood Vaccination Injury Act, a reporting requirement dating back to 1986.  Not one doctor of the many we saw told us about VAERS, their legal requirement to file a report, or our ability to file our own report.  Otto's blood was never sent to experts to be studied.  The vaccine lot numbers for the multiple vaccines he received were never reported to investigate the potential of a "hot lot" and to ensure this wasn't happening to other children receiving these same vaccines.  Think about how differently this would have been handled if Otto had gotten sick from a mad cow disease-tainted hamburger: calls would have been made immediately, reports filed, an investigation started, warnings would have been issued, and the media alerted.  When a vaccine injury or death occurs, none of that happens.  And as a result, here sits Otto in a wheelchair.
 
To add insult to injury, not one doctor had the decency and compassion to tell us about the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (the VICP).  By the time we heard about it, from other parents, it was too late for us to file a claim on Otto's behalf...the brief 3-year statute of limitations had expired.  Thus, we must survive on a single income due to the constant needs of a child with paralysis. The entire burden of supporting our family, as well as keeping up with Otto's immense hospital bills, falls on one person.  The 75-cent surtax we paid on every vaccine, a parent's only insurance policy when it comes to vaccine injury, was paid in futility...we have been denied access to filing a claim.
 
Tragically, nothing has been learned from Otto's case.  No other child will be spared from the permanent disability and suffering he now endures because nothing has been done to stop it from happening again...nothing.  Your child, or your grandchild, could be next.

Please try to imagine my extreme frustration, and the frustration of many others present today for this hearing, when we hear people in this room cavalierly spouting the lie that "vaccines are safe".  Please ask yourselves how vaccines can be extremely safe, as touted by Senators Pan and Allen, while at the same time being "unavoidably unsafe", in other words, inherently dangerous, as declared by the U.S. Supreme Court and  Congress?  It is not only admitted by government regulatory agencies and vaccine manufacturers that vaccines will harm and kill some, but it is becoming common knowledge due to the growing number of victims. This is the reason why Californians are showing up here in opposition at every hearing, vastly outnumbering the supporters 15 to 1.  Vaccine injury is indeed real, it is not rare, and parents want to be the ones to choose what risks to take with their own children.  (Time permitting, insert this here:  If vaccine injury is as rare as the bill's sponsors like to purport, 1 in a million, then there should be no more than 39 people here at the Capitol today, in a state of 39 million people, who are here representing themselves or a family member with vaccine injury.  Can I please ask for a show of hands...how many of you here today have a child who has been a victim of vaccine injury, or are a vaccine injury victim yourself?  That looks far in excess of 39 to me, and this is in just 1 room.)

Hopefully, you now understand why my wife and I cannot in good conscience ever allow another vaccine for Otto, or for his younger brother.  Since there was no investigation, we have no idea what vaccine ingredient, or combination of ingredients and vaccines, caused his paralysis.  We will not blindly sacrifice him again, or his brother, on the altar of vaccines, vaccines which we now know to be dangerous and improperly studied.  We would much rather have taken our chances with disease than with the multiple injections we now know enough about to know we want no more of them.  
 
Otto is currently one vaccination shy of being able to attend public school if this bill becomes law.  Unbelievably, he does not qualify for a medical exemption, and the PBE we currently have on file for him will become null and void.  If SB277 passes, he will no longer be allowed to attend public school.  And I repeat...my wife and I will not allow him to receive even one more vaccination.

Otto has paid the ultimate price and will never be the same again. The thanks to him you are proposing is to remove his right to a free public education.  Homeschooling is not the answer for us, financially or practically.
 
Are you going to vote today to take schooling away from him, too?

Otto would you like to say something?  

"I love going to school.  Please don't take that away from me."