Kayla Pollock is a 37-year-old mother from Ontario whose life took a drastic turn after receiving a Moderna Covid-19 booster shot. She experienced paralysis from the neck down and has been enduring a challenging ordeal ever since.
Kayla's early years were marked by unspeakable cruelty and suffering. As an infant, she endured the horrors of severe abuse, including broken bones, cigarette burns, and bruises inflicted upon her helpless body by her parents. Her distressing situation prompted the intervention of family and children services, ultimately leading to her placement in a caring, loving and supportive home.
As she grew older, Kayla dedicated the majority of her younger adult years to behavioral training of exotic animals. However, she eventually made the decision to resign from this profession after having her son, recognizing the inherent risks of the job.
Kayla eventually ended up in the small town of Mount Albert, Ontario, where she co-raised her son after a separation. She worked as a casual educational assistant at Robert Munsch Public School, assisting kindergarten children. Her home was conveniently located right next to the school. Kayla's son attended the same school where she worked, and she expressed her love for her job and the positive direction her life was heading. Describing herself as fit, healthy, and very active, Kayla enjoyed hiking, being outdoors, gardening, and going places with her son.
When the pandemic struck, Kayla recalls the mainstream media, politicians, and public health officials emphasizing the severity of the virus and urging everyone to get vaccinated. She remembers health officials specifically advising that those at highest risk should prioritize getting vaccinated. Being immunocompromised and a type one diabetic, Kayla heeded the advice of health officials and received the first two Pfizer shots in the middle of 2021 and didn’t experience any issues. Additionally, she mentions another reason for getting vaccinated was because her father resided in a long-term care facility with dementia, and vaccination was going to be a requirement for entry into the care home.
Kayla then decided to take a booster, but this time it was a Moderna booster shot. She recounts going to a vaccination drive and the police being there. She found that odd and questioned why the police were present. According to Kayla, people were upset that Moderna was being given out instead of Pfizer, and that was the reason for the police presence. Kayla says that something didn’t sit right in her gut, but she went ahead with the Moderna booster shot anyway. She explains her reasoning for getting the third shot was because she felt like a third one would be mandated at some point to get access into her dads long term care home. She received the Moderna booster shot on January 11, 2022.
Four days later, Kayla described a situation where her legs just gave out, and she collapsed, but all seemed fine a short time later. Then, nine days later, she experienced a similar event, and at that time, she called her doctor, asking to see a neurologist because she suspected something wasn’t right.
On the morning of February 22, 2022, Kayla's life took an irreversible turn. As she awoke, opened her eyes, a sudden realization struck her – she couldn't move her body. Despite the shock, she says she remained calm and started yelling for help. Fortunately, her boyfriend who spent the night, was in the driveway preparing to leave for work, and heard her cries for help. Her boyfriend called 911 and Kayla was transported to Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, Ontario.
While in the emergency department Kayla recounts that the attending physician initially dismissed her symptoms, suggesting that it was all in her head and portrayed her as a "crazy person," and ordered a psychiatric consult. All of what Kayla describes happening is evident in her medical records which we obtained and reviewed.
Eventually, an MRI was conducted, revealing that Kayla had a very large lesion on her spinal cord. A neurologist followed up with Kayla and recommended a course of steroids in an attempt to decrease the size of the lesion.
Kayla questioned the neurologist and asked if the lesion could be a tumor. In an audio recording taken by Kayla’s boyfriend, the neurologist responds, saying, “it's less likely a tumor” and that it is his “gut impression it was caused by the vaccine.” When Kayla questions the doctor as to whether many people have had something similar happen to them, the doctor responds, saying “many people have had it.”
Later, Kayla would learn that she had developed transverse myelitis, a condition that interrupts the transmission of messages along the spinal cord nerves throughout the body. She would go on to spend several months in the hospital, where she says she was offered medical assistance in dying (MAID) on two occasions but rejected the offer.
During Kayla's hospital stay, she received steroids, which she claims helped to some extent, allowing her to regain very slight movement in her arms, hands, and fingers. However, she still has absolutely no feeling from the neck down. Visually examining her fingernails reveals decay due to the lack of nerve function. Kayla believes that if the initial doctor had taken her concerns seriously, rather than dismissing her as a "crazy person," and promptly ordered an MRI, she might have been able to walk again or experience sensation in some parts of her body that she doesn’t have today.
After her initial treatment at the local hospital, Kayla was subsequently transferred to Lyndhurst Rehabilitation Centre in Toronto to undergo several months of intensive rehabilitation aimed at attempting to restore her physical capabilities and adapting to her new reality. Unfortunately, Kayla says that rehab did not help her.
Following her discharge from the hospital, she now takes a long list of drugs daily. She ended up losing everything she worked hard for—her home, the ability to co-raise her son, and her job, essentially losing everything. Kayla was placed on provincial disability and was forced to move away from Mount Albert, where her son lives, into an apartment that could accommodate her wheelchair accessibility needs.
Kayla has faced challenges in obtaining the promised hours of in-home care after leaving the hospital. Kayla relies on a personal support worker to help her get out of bed each morning, another organization assists with meal preparation, and in the evenings, a friend comes over to manually extract feces from her bowel and aid her in getting into bed.
Securing compensation through the federal government’s Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP) has been difficult for Kayla. She initiated the application process in July of 2022, following up with the program six months later. However, according to Kayla, her application was still under review at that time. Another six months elapsed, and when she sought an update, the program informed her that they had never received her initial application. In response, Kayla reapplied to the program and was recently assigned a case worker. Uncertainty looms over whether she will be approved and, if approved, when she will receive any form of compensation.
Kayla faces challenges in performing simple tasks both at home and in the community. She is in a difficult financial situation and desperately seeks a service dog. According to her, having a service dog would not only assist her with daily tasks but also offer companionship, providing her with much-needed company.
An organization called Veterans 4 Freedom has stepped in to help Kayla and has set up a GiveSendGo campaign to help her raise funds for a service dog. A link to that fundraising campaign is below.
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