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
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Angst and calls for resting places as Surrey, B.C., pet cemetery development continues
A single headstone is all that remains of dozens of markers for long-buried pets in a subdivision in Surrey’s Newton neighbourhood, where a half-acre parcel bears a large sign announcing the proposed construction of new homes.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.