One mother, Lindsey Pelton, lost her son less than 12 hours after he was given routine vaccines. She wants to share the truth about how families are left to fend for themselves and are denied help, even for burial costs, after vaccines harmed their child. Her journey through the process of filing a vaccine injury claim will open your eyes to another part of the vaccine debate in which unsuspecting parents may find themselves.
Vaccines are advertised as safe and pushed onto the public, but no vaccine is guaranteed to be safe or effective. Vaccine information sheets state these drugs can cause serious health problems, including severe allergic reactions and death.[1] Yet, doctors mostly deny these known adverse reactions when they occur, leaving parents abandoned by their child’s pediatrician that pushed the vaccines in the first place.
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A Family Full Of Love
Lindsey and her husband Nicholas were expecting their first child together when a tragedy occurred. Nicholas had enlisted in the Army and a temporary housing solution for their family was to move in with Lindsey’s father, until Nicholas was finished with basic training and stationed somewhere. Once stationed, they planned to get a house of their own.
Her father’s house, with every possession in the world they owned, burned down in a house fire. They lost everything. The insurance company helped them find another house to live in during the year it would take to re-build her father’s house.
Two weeks after the fire happened, shortly after they moved into their rental property, Nicholas fell down the basement stairs. Nicholas suffered from the injuries sustained and died in his sleep on October 15, 2011.
Lindsey was in her first trimester. Their whole family was heartbroken and had never expected such a loss. Nicholas was legally adopting Lindsey’s two older kids when he passed away. He was the only dad they ever knew.
The stress from her husband’s loss led to a premature birth of their baby. At 32 weeks gestation, on April 22, 2012, a sweet baby boy, Nickson Law Pelton, was brought into this world. He weighed four pounds and nine ounces.
Even though he was born two months early, the hospital staff treated him like a full-term baby and injected him with the vitamin K shot and the hepatitis B vaccine.
Lindsey Felt Forced To Continue To Vaccinate Her Premature Baby
Lindsey was already uncomfortable “moving to the sticks” and obtaining a new pediatrician for Nickson in Covington, Georgia. She found one who had just gone into solo practice after leaving a well-known and reputable group practice.
On June 29, 2012, Nickson’s pediatrician gave him eight vaccines at his two-month checkup – the 5-in-1 combo Pentacel for (DTaP, polio and Hib), Energix B for hepatits B, the pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar 13 and the oral rotavirus vaccine RotaTeq. He was fussy after the shots and suffered what are considered “normal reactions” to the vaccines.
Lindsey stated,
“My daughter was also a preemie and at that time, we lived in a big city and loved our pediatrician. She really listened, only gave minimal vaccines, spaced them out and took into account her gestational age. It was so different from my daughter’s pediatrician to Nickson’s.
After his 2 month shots, his leg began tremoring. We started calling him thumper. I was told it was no big deal, not to worry and that of course it wasn’t related to him having a shot in the leg that was acting unusual.
His doctor said since he was a preemie, his nerves were just getting used to working, or something along those lines. He also ran a very low grade fever daily from the 2 month shots, even up to his next appointment.”
Smiling Nickson Before His Next Round Of Vaccines
At the age of four months old (even though he was born two months premature), with a low grade fever upon arrival, his doctor said he needed seven vaccines during this visit. Nickson’s doctor insisted his premature birth was all the more reason he should be vaccinated on schedule.
Lindsey knew this was not good and protested against them; he was so tiny, weighing less than ten pounds and she was concerned about his previous reactions to vaccines. Against her wishes, Lindsey was threatened if she didn’t allow the vaccines, Child Protective Services would be called because Nickson was born prematurely and his doctor said he needed all these vaccines to protect him.
Lindsey didn’t have the emotional capability to fight the doctor and she didn’t want Nickson taken away. After losing her husband, Nicholas, she couldn’t face losing Nickson too. She felt helpless and watched in horror what was being done to her son. She prayed everything would be all right.
On August 23, 2012, during this visit, Nickson was given seven vaccines at his four-month checkup. Tiny, little Nickson was given the 5-in-1 combo Pentacel for (DTaP, Polio and Hib), the Pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar 13 and the oral Rotavirus vaccine RotaTeq. Less than 12 hours later, he stopped breathing and passed away.
Nickson’s Vaccine Record
During The 911 Call
Lindsey is heard screaming at the top of her lungs in the background, while her dad spoke to the 911 operator. Lindsey screamed her son is dead from his vaccines.
Remembering when the police and ambulance showed up, Lindsey told us,
“When my son was found, it was considered ‘a crime scene’ and I was under investigation initially. So I couldn’t touch him or ride with him to the hospital or anything. My family either. It was horrible being questioned and then they took my baby away.
I wasn’t able to see him until a few days later. I demanded that since he had been cleared of me hurting him that they had to do whatever they had to do, that I was going to spend as much time as I needed saying goodbye.
My dad was helpful and immediately contacted the funeral director that had just taken care of my husband’s funeral and told them even though my son was going to be cremated, he wanted them to do whatever necessary for me to be able to say my goodbyes first.
So they embalmed my son. They usually do not if they are going to cremate a person but since Nickson was kept for several days after he passed, embalming him was recommended for us to view and hold him, to say our good byes. My life felt unbearable, if the doctor would’ve respected my concerns and not threatened to call CPS, Nickson would still be here.”
The Family Gets To Say Their Good-Byes
Lindsey’s church knew about a group called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. They are a free corporation available in all 50 states that has volunteer photographers come and take pictures of families with their angel baby. [2]
Lindsey said,
“The photographer came out and I was able to have about 6 hours with Nickson. They took hundreds of photos. The photographer said they don’t usually take that many but my son looked so perfect and our family looked so beautiful, she kept clicking away.” I don’t know what I’d have done without that time …”
Then Nickson was cremated and placed with his dad.
After Nickson Passed Away, His Doctor Didn’t Even Apologize
When asked how Nickson’s doctor reacted, Lindsey stated,
“The doctor never reacted per se. The detectives were the only ones to talk with the doctor, but they have been unhelpful every step of the way, refusing to give his medical files, turning them over finally, but incomplete, then actually charging for the complete file.
I haven’t had the strength to go to the office or call even. I’ve heard of doctors sending a sympathy card if one of their patients dies or a phone call to the parents, but mine didn’t acknowledge his death at all. From what I gathered she was very curt with the detective and of course told the detective that there is no medical evidence of vaccines causing this reaction.”
Lindsey Began To Self-Medicate, Trying To Survive
After Nickson passed away, Lindsey was left with no help and still needed to take care of her other two young kids, Nickson’s older brother and sister. Lindsey was incredibly stressed during the two years following the loss of both her husband and third baby only ten months apart.
She began self-medicating with prescription drugs to treat the plethora of diagnoses she lives with on a daily basis, which includes agoraphobia, PTSD and a generalized anxiety disorder, just to name a few. She has been hospitalized several times since everything happened, including after two strong suicide attempts.
She was angry that the doctor responsible for Nickson’s passing never even acknowledged his life was taken by the vaccines or that the vaccines had anything to do with why he died. She was upset her concerns were ignored and she was illegally threatened, causing this nightmare.
It has been made clear to millions of parents that their child means absolutely nothing to these doctors, nurses, vaccine manufacturers, all of those who are responsible for making the system what it is, in which parents can be threatened to have their child removed if they don’t vaccinate, even when their child clearly should not be.
Regardless of how medical staff feels about vaccination, they should never coerce or force a parent into vaccinating, nor vaccinate a child without their parent’s written and informed consent.
Parents With Vaccine-Injured Children Need Immediate Support
Lindsey found herself struggling to make ends meet and to function normally. She has had past problems. She dealt with a family dispute between some family members that led to her getting in trouble. There were physical altercations and she was arrested more than once in the two years following Nickson’s death because she was so messed up because of what happened.
Lindsey openly stated,
“I lost everything, including my mind. My mental state is so fragile. I’m in heavy counseling and trying to recover so I can get back to normalcy. I have dealt with my struggles and this part of me getting into trouble is behind me. Parents that go through what I’ve gone through have no idea how they would keep surviving. We are not given any help and the people hurting our children keep getting away with it.
I was bullied into vaccinating Nickson when I was so fragile because I lost his amazing dad that I loved so much. We were so excited for Nickson to be born. I knew Nickson shouldn’t have gotten those shots and I knew the doctor was wrong. I didn’t have the means to stand up for myself and couldn’t risk losing Nickson too. I did anyways.
Vaccines are not about keeping people healthy. If that were true, they wouldn’t push so many onto babies like they do, especially preemies. I want my story shared because vaccines took my sons life and I don’t want them to take any more lives.”
No Assistance Is Given, Even For Funeral Costs
If parents take their healthy child to get vaccinated and their baby dies or gets injured from these drugs, which are associated risks that come along with them, then these parents should in turn be given immediate support, so they wouldn’t have to turn to such desperate measures to survive. The system is failing parents and their children.
Understand that these parents and caregivers are not even given acknowledgement from their doctor, health officials, etc. that the vaccines played a role in their child’s injury, whether still living or not. Health costs for a vaccine-damaged child can cost more than buying a new house each year. Insurance doesn’t usually cover all of the necessary treatment these kids need.
It is rare the vaccines would even be mentioned on the autopsy report and in Nickson’s case, they were not, even though Nickson still had the Band-Aids on his body where he was injected. Common sense dictates the vaccines should at least be listed on the autopsy report, but many parents coming forward admit this isn’t being done. This leaves parents furious.
No one knows how their life would change and what desperate mode of survival they will find themselves in, under these extreme circumstances. This behavior could be expected and many parents find they can’t go on. Some commit suicide, some are wrongly accused and imprisoned for their child’s death, while those responsible get away with it and get to keep on injecting away.
Couples separate, depression deeply sets in, and many can no longer work or even function on a basic level. If there were a program to help these families suffering when a child passes or is damaged after the vaccines are given, this plausible connection should not be ignored and financial assistance should be given immediately, even to help with basic funeral costs. Vaccine manufacturers should pay for these services, not taxpayers.
Lindsey Connected With Others Going Through The Same Tragedy
Lindsey’s life turned around when she found people whose children suffered the same tragic fate. Large groups of parents who share their own personal story helped give Nickson and her a voice. One such amazing group is VACCINE INJURY STORIES and V.P.I. STORIES. [3]
This group is dedicated to supporting others who have dealt with a vaccine injury. Lindsey was grateful to discover people who were finally there to acknowledge her loss and what happened, supporting her own instinctual thoughts that the vaccines took her son’s life. By acknowledging what had happened, these individuals were also keeping Nickson’s memory alive. Lindsey was getting the help she needed for the first time since Nickson passed.
Parents have to share their stories because there is no other outlet. When parents go through such tragedies and the obvious connection is denied and pushed under the rug, eventually there won’t be any more room to hide them. Parents like Lindsey gain the most support by being heard and learning they are not alone, never to remain silent again about what happened to their baby.
Nickson’s Brother And Sister Suffered Greatly, Too
Everyday tasks can be a big challenge when depressed. Lindsey sought help from a doctor who has prescribed her medications while she is struggling to cope. The suicide attempts that immediately followed the loss of Nickson are being dealt with. She has stated she could never go down that path again, even though it’s hard to go on with life.
She stated,
“I’m not so selfish as to do that to my beautiful kids I need and want to always be there for and take care of. They are my world and I love them more than anything. They’ve suffered the loss of their dad and baby brother and need me more than ever. That’s why I need to maintain my health care, doctor’s appointments, medications, etc., as I’m able to. I’ve been through a lot, our whole family has.
Those responsible don’t help you. They don’t care when vaccines harm. What happened to my husband was a tragic accident, what happened to Nickson could’ve been prevented if only I was heard. I was not given any vaccine information sheets either to make an informed decision, even if I wanted him vaccinated. These doctors need to be held accountable for their actions. I had the right to choose not to vaccinate him. My instincts as a mother were ignored while I was vulnerable and then I was threatened.”
Honoring Their Little Brother Needlessly Taken
Nickson’s siblings, eight year-old Sada Pelton and ten year-old Kaiden Pelton, share with you what they think about vaccines. Their lives have been forever changed after they lost their dad and much-loved baby brother. These amazing children have been through so much, more than most adults, yet they’ve only allowed it to change them for the better. May we all listen and learn from what they have to say.
What Parents Need To Learn Before They Have Their Child Vaccinated
Parents should be taught they can file a vaccine injury claim and that there are certain tests they should request when the autopsy is done, to help prove the vaccines are the plausible reason their child is no longer with them. [4]
This is a brief overview of how parents go about filing a claim with the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP), from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) website. This is the recourse parents have and need to learn about before vaccinating their child, as part of making an informed choice. [5]
“You may file a claim if you believe you were injured by a vaccine; if you are the parent or legal guardian of a child or disabled adult believed to have been injured by a vaccine; or the legal representative of the estate of a deceased individual whose death you believe was caused by a vaccine. An injury must have lasted for more than 6 months after the vaccine was given or resulted in a hospital stay and surgery.
All claims must be filed with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and must include the claim (or petition) and two copies, a Court of Federal Claims cover sheet, medical records and/or other documentation, and a $400 filing fee.
Compensation varies, depending on the injury, and can include as much as $250,000 for pain and suffering, lost earnings, legal fees, and/or a reasonable amount for past and future care. For a death, you may receive as much as $250,000 for the estate and legal fees.
You must file your claim within 3 years after the first symptom of the vaccine injury or within 2 years of a death and 4 years after the start of the first symptom of the vaccine injury that resulted in the death.”
Lindsey was close to missing the deadline to file a vaccine injury claim. She was not told she could file a petition with the NVICP and found out only by doing her own research. Nickson’s doctor never even reported his death to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS), something she should’ve done immediately when she learned of his passing. [6]
In reviewing these statements, it is clear that if Nickson gets any justice and his mother wins their case, she will only be awarded a maximum death benefit of $250,000 for Nickson. That’s what your child is worth.
Many end up settling their case for less, just to win anything.
In the United States, if vaccine injury claims were handled like conventional civil lawsuits or medical malpractice lawsuits, treated as tort cases, injury compensation awards would amount to millions of dollars.
Parents Are Threatened They Can Be Sued If They Reveal Doctors’ Names
It was almost two years after Nickson passed away before Lindsey began researching more on her own. In July of 2014, very close to the two-year deadline to file a petition to get justice for what was done to her son, Lindsey found a vaccine injury lawyer to help her learn how to file a petition.
Lindsey stated,
“The statute of limitations to file my son’s lawsuit was about to end so the lawyer (not having seen my son’s records etc. suggested I file myself), until they reviewed my case and agreed to take us on. So I filed the initial $400 to the VICP and the rest for the other filing, copies, and records requested etc.
My lawyer said I could be sued for slander if I speak out against what Nickson’s doctor did. Not until (if) a lawsuit is done on the doctor’s office, can her name be disclosed. I would be jeopardizing Nickson’s case.”
Usually, the people filing a vaccine injury claim in the U.S. don’t have to pay anything upfront. Lindsey had to pay the initial $400 filing fee because she was considered a pro se petitioner, meaning she was basically her own attorney initially.
A Petition To Fight For Nickson Was Submitted On July 29, 2014
Lindsey now has a prominent vaccine injury attorney, Patricia Finn, who has taken on her case and will legally represent her. Patricia’s firm handles vaccine injury and vaccine exemption litigation cases. [7]
The vaccine court was originally set up to fast track compensation for those injured by vaccines. Now, it’s a slow and complex process in which parents themselves have to battle with experts, from government attorneys to government doctors who have unlimited resources. This is partly why two-thirds of the cases are denied.
In order to prove these cases like Lindsey’s, expert witnesses are needed. An expert witness can cost tens of thousands of dollars and the retainer fee costs close to $2500 or more. Parents are not made aware of this by their child’s pediatrician.
Vaccine injury cases are not profitable for the firms that take the cases. In Patricia’s firm, a significant portion of the fees earned in the vaccine court go toward funding vaccine rights cases involving the rights to refuse vaccines.
Her firm has become a mega resource for people who share the same concerns, to help seek justice for what is being done to the people when vaccines harm, while doctors and vaccine manufacturers, etc. are not held liable.
Many groups of people and well-known individuals now help provide their resources that Patricia’s firm didn’t have before. No longer are vaccine injury attorneys like Patricia Finn alone in this fight.
Her firm has become a mecca where doctors and scientists from all over have joined forces with her firm, to fight against forced vaccines and to ensure the injured are recognized and compensated.
Thank You For Your Support And Positive Thoughts
We appreciate any help given to Lindsey and her family in need. Parents shouldn’t have to go through this tragic loss and be required to prove the vaccines took their child’s life. That is how it is, though. It’s hard to imagine being in this mother’s position right now or any other parent’s shoes who have gone through this or are currently going through this awful and unimaginable nightmare.
An estimated two-thirds of the vaccine injury claims filed get dismissed because many parents don’t know what tests should be done to help them prove their child’s injury is vaccine-related and some simply cannot afford for their case to proceed.
Many people don’t file because they don’t know they can. The average time for a vaccine injury claim to be awarded or denied is 2 – 11 years. The majority of cases get settled and this usually takes a year to conclude, sometimes longer.
Lindsey hopes by telling her story, she can help prevent your innocent child or loved one from becoming a statistic and to help prevent any parent from going through what she has. We are in this fight together.
Lindsey stated,
“I feel so desperate having to ask for help but I have almost no family members and I don’t have friends or anybody really to help me. My kids and I feel alone against the world and it’s so important to me, to seek justice for my son but it’s not possible without getting help.”
For those who want to help this family, in honor of Nickson’s memory, this GoFundMe page has been set up for anyone wanting to send donations. [8]
Nickson’s Autopsy Report
The day Nickson passed, on August 24, 2012, his preliminary cause of death was SIDS. Once the examination took place, his final autopsy report states his cause of death was suffocation. He suffered a lack of oxygen known as hypoxia, a common cause of death babies suffer from after vaccination. The report stated there were no blankets or any obstruction to cause his lack of oxygen. He stopped breathing less than 12 hours after he was vaccinated against seven different diseases.
Nickson was barely the size of a two month-old at the age of four months, because he was born two months early. His little body was given a total of 16 vaccines by the time he died. This is what is recommended on the CDC vaccine schedule Nickson’s doctor was so adamant needed to be followed or Child Protective Services would be contacted.
Conclusion
Parents need to be able to choose what goes into their child’s body, especially when their babies are not born full-term or have any underlying health problems at birth. When a product such as a vaccine is injected into a child, known to be associated with severe risks, including death, there should be a standard protocol in place for these families to get needed support when the risks outweigh the benefits. No one can predict how a vaccine will negatively affect a person.
Lindsey and other families going through this, suffering the loss of a child likely caused by the vaccine(s) given to them, when no other plausible cause exists, wouldn’t have to resort to such measures to ask for financial help to get justice for what was wrongfully done to their baby if the help was readily available. Having to wait months, years, even more than a decade, to receive any compensation is problematic.
Instead of resources being available for these parents, families are disregarded and left to fend for themselves. New protocols should be put in place to help these families who did what they were told they were supposed to do, for the “greater good.” This is not a time to restrict exemption rights when there isn’t even a functional plan of recourse for those who suffer such loss or end up with a living vaccine-damaged child.
There should be an exemption parents who lost a child to vaccines or have a living vaccine-damaged child can file. How could one be expected to continue to vaccinate when their flesh and blood was damaged by vaccines? Vaccines should not be mandated if they cannot be guaranteed they won’t harm. As it stands, no vaccine fits those criterion.
Angel Baby Nickson
April 22, 2012 – August 24, 2012
Lindsey tells us, “He was in life and is in Heaven as well, such a great baby. His smile lit up the room!!! Nickson gives me strength and direction from where he plays in Heaven.”
References
- http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/current-vis.html
- https://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/484062988360732/
- http://vactruth.com/2012/08/21/autopsy-medical-tests/
- http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/fileclaim.html
- https://vaers.hhs.gov/esub/index
- http://www.vaccineexemption.org/
- http://www.gofundme.com/saving-this-mommy