Gabi Swank – Wichita, Kansas
Shannon Schrag and her daughter, Gabi Swank, are a Middle American family caught in the crossfire generated by Merck’s new cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil. After she saw a “be-one-less” Gardasil ad on MTV, Gabi Swank, a healthy, 15-year-old honor student, told her mom that she wanted the vaccine to ensure that she wouldn’t become a victim of cervical cancer. At the doctor’s office, Shannon wasn’t warned of any possible side effects, but within hours of the shot Gabi started to feel them.
We accompany mother and daughter to the neurologist who confirms a diagnosis of vaccine damage. We follow along as Gabi’s new life unfolds, unable to attend school most days and embarrassed by her wheelchair when she does. We attempt to join her at the Homecoming dance where she was voted sophomore princess, but watch as a seizure ruins those plans and sends Gaby to the hospital instead.
Jordan King – Portland, Oregon
Fred and MyLinda King struggle with the challenges of raising their 12-year-old son Jordan who regressed into autism after routine vaccination. The Kings think of the promises that life held for Jordan while Maya, his gifted 10-year-old sister, is a constant reminder of what Jordan should have been. Jordan’s parents worry about his future. Will there be a place for him after they are gone? Will his younger sister bear the burden? How will society deal with this growing epidemic?
The Christeners – Tulsa, Oklahoma
In medical school, Dr. Stephanie Christner learned that vaccines were safe and essential to the health of her children and all other children. Vaccine safety was never questioned. But on her journey to find answers, Christener was shocked to find studies that documented vaccine injuries published in major medical journals going back decades. With her new knowledge, she wonders what else she might have missed before her daughter died at 5 months of age.
