Statement from Isabella Thomas – parent of children numbers 6 and 7 in the GMC Hearing
My name is Isabella Thomas. I am the proud mother of four sons. My husband and I worked hard to give them the best opportunities in life and looked forward to watching them fulfilling their hopes, dreams and ambitions.
Our lives changed when our youngest sons reacted to their MMR vaccines which resulted in complex medical problems and a rare form of autism, only to then be cast aside as a government and medical embarrassment. Michael reacted within hours of having the vaccine, and changed overnight from a loving boy to one who was a stranger to me. I lost friends because of his aggression towards their children, and taking him to the doctors asking for help only resulted in my being told he was fine, despite the changes I and my family were seeing.
I waited until Terry was older and it was only due to great pressure from the medical profession that I took him for his vaccine and I was devastated when he also had a reaction. They both developed symptoms of excessive thirst, high fevers, rashes, fits, bowel changes, constant pain, screaming, aggression, severe headaches, memory loss and the list goes on. Michael seems to be affected the worst as he is having more severe problems. One doctor referred us to a local hospital and without the boys having any investigations we were told that there were no bowel problems. On another occasion when Terry was having a fit I was told by the doctor and hospital to just give him Calpol. However, he eventually ended up as an emergency as his body went into shock.
My boys were passed from one doctor to another without any real investigations, or anyone showing a desire to help or find out what the problem was. I was desperate until I found a doctor who was concerned enough to refer my sons to the Royal Free hospital under Professor Walker-Smith’s team which included Dr. Wakefield and Professor Simon Murch. It was the first time we had come across doctors who actually listened to our family and our concerns. The treatment they received from the hospital and the doctors at that point was excellent and the boys started to make progress. However, this progress stopped as soon as the three doctors in question left the Royal Free hospital and other doctors were too frightened for their careers to treat my boys and other children, as it was seen as a risk. A doctor at another London hospital said that there was no bowel disease in Terry again without any investigation, and so as a last resort to find a way to help alleviate my boys suffering, I took them both to the USA for treatment. On my return with positive findings from a number of diagnostic tests, this London doctor apologised and said he would have to look again at the way he investigated bowel symptoms in autistic children.
With this in mind, I find it sad that some journalists love to call mothers and fathers who dare suggest that the MMR may have caused their children to fall ill "anti-vaccine". The misrepresentation of families like mine just adds another weight to the pressure that we're already facing. These same people would love to think and try to represent such families as unstable, emotional, almost militant campaigners who want to bring down the national health program and stop every child from getting any vaccination ever. They almost always ignore the most important questions....from my perspective these would be: why are my children ill? What caused it? Why won't the government examine my sons? And what can be done so that my sonsare no longer in constant pain?
Three doctors in particular who have done more than anything to find answers to these questions, namely Dr. Andrew Wakefield, Professor Simon Murch and Professor Walker Smith have placed themselves in a dangerous situation with both sacrifice and judgment, unnecessary and sad that they are prepared to do it again no matter what the outcome of the GMC hearing. I think it is ridiculous, unnecessary and sad that they are up against the GMC as I, nor any other parent to my knowledge have not made any complaint against the three doctors. I am also angry that my children do not have any legal representative at the hearing and that my family and others affected by the outcome have no voice in the hearing, and have to listen to lies about our families. Because of this, it seems clear to me that the GMC are not interested in how our children are now, and they are being used merely as political pawns. Our children are desperately sick, and need treatment. For the sake of our innocent children caught up in this web of deceit and a generation lost to society, please do not ignore this.