This Mom Got a Brutal Reality Check About Vaccines
Say what you will about vaccinations, but be warned: You might take back what you said should you and your kids get sick.
Take teacher and mom Kristen O'Meara, who opposed vaccinations. Then, her three kids - and she and her husband - fell ill with a stomach disease called rotavirus.
"It was awful, and it didn't have to happen, because I could have had them vaccinated. I felt guilty. I felt really guilty," she said to ABC News in a Good Morning America segment.
"I put my kids at risk," she added. "I wish that I had taken more time to research from both sides before my children were born."
Now, they're all vaccinated.
Some parents disavow vaccinations for their own reasons, but a popular reason has often been that they lead to autism, even though an extensive study in Pediatrics revealed that claim to be false. Still, a recent study also published in Pediatrics revealed that between 2006 and 2013, parents refused to vaccinate their kids at a higher rate.
Never mind the fact that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that infants and young children get vaccinated - even providing people with a schedule for when they should get vaccinated - since young people's immune systems are incredibly vulnerable.
But the sad reality is that parents who are headstrong in their beliefs aren't likely to budge on their positions...until they get a brutal reality check, like O'Meara did, or until someone gives them a stern warning with a horror story.
"I'm here because I wanted to share my personal story ... and if it does help someone change their mind, then that's great," she said to ABC News.
(h/t ABC News)
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