Former anti-vaxxer pleads with Quebecers to get vaccinated after almost losing daughter to virus
A former anti-vaxxer in Quebec is pleading with others to get vaccinated after she nearly lost her daughter to the virus.
Sophie Leger lives with her family of eight in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Que. Her 21-year-old daughter, Melodie, used to be against the vaccine, before she caught COVID-19 last month.
Leger remembers the early symptoms.
“Her back hurt … her head hurt … she couldn’t move,” she said.
Melodie's condition got worse. She ended up at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal by late September, where she fell into a coma.
“The diagnosis was simple,” said her mother. “Melodie must have died.”
Doctors didn't think she'd make it. Melodie was intubated, breathing with the help of a respirator. Leger says her heart actually stopped three times.
“We are talking about three weeks,” said Leger. “Three weeks of paralysis … three weeks of intubation [and] strong drugs.”
For those three weeks, Melodie remained in a coma, until she recovered -- something leger described as nothing short of a miracle.
MELODIE’S RETURN
Melodie finally returned home Sunday while her mother was still in conversation with CTV News.
“Oh mon Dieu!” exclaimed Leger, as she heard her daughter enter the apartment.
- Watch CTV’s Billy Shields’ report above to see Leger’s reaction the moment her daughter returned from the hospital
Upon her return, Melodie said her time in hospital had changed “everything.”
“My whole life and perspective changed completely,” she said, adding that she plans on getting the vaccine as soon as she can.
Her mother says misinformation online contributed to her hesitancy to get the shot before getting sick.
She called that misinformation “dangerous for mankind.”
“Now I have a big mission,” she said. “To make people aware of the importance of the vaccine.”
A majority of recent COVID-19 cases reported in Quebec have been found among those who had gotten their first dose of a vaccine less than two weeks prior, or never got a shot at all.
On Sunday, 341 of the 532 cases were found among that group. Public health says unvaccinated people are 22.8 times more likely to be hospitalized after catching COVID-19.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.