Following the birth of his second child, Eleanor, John Petrak should have been celebrating with his wife Imogen, aged 35. Instead, just hours after their daughter’s birth, Imogen tragically passed away and their lives were forever changed.
It is hard to believe this tragedy could have been made any worse, yet thanks to the reprehensible reporting of Jane Hansen and the resultant media circus, their grief was soon amplified.
On the 4th of July, 2017 at approximately 34 weeks’ gestation, a pregnant Imogen went off to the doctor to have the Tdap vaccine, a 3 in 1 shot containing tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough (pertussis). Despite the manufacturer’s product insert stating “…adequate human data on use in pregnancy are not available” and no scientific evidence proving either safety or effectiveness during pregnancy, expectant mothers are advised by their physicians that this shot will protect their babies from whooping cough for the first six weeks of life. That is, before their child is old enough to have their first set of vaccines.
According to a screen shot taken from John’s Facebook profile, just two days after receiving this experimental vaccine, Imogen “….started to get sick with a sore throat and really runny nose”. This was followed by a fever and an earache and progressively, her symptoms became worse. Blood tests and a physical examination provided no answers and by the 14th, just 10 days after receiving the vaccine, Imogen was rushed off to hospital where, John states, “we were in emergency waiting area for about 40mins and that was the last time she spoke to me or anyone. That whole time we thought it was just a bad ear ache. The rest…. was terrifying to watch”.
When asked if she felt the vaccine may have played a part in Imogen’s death, Dr. Suzanne Humphries, a twice board certified, licensed, internal medicine doctor and nephrologist said it was “…highly plausible”.
According to the manufacturer’s insert, side effects of the vaccine include upper respiratory tract infections, fever, fainting, pharyngitis (inflammation of the pharynx causing a sore throat), Syncope (fainting), lymphadenopathy (inflammation of the lymph nodes), headache, dizziness, and cough to name just a few. Post marketing surveillance also states “collapse…and convulsions within 2 to 3 days of vaccination have been reported”.
While side effects from vaccines are of concern, according to Dr. Humphries, there is also a well documented non-specific effect which demonstrates the Tdap vaccine “makes people more susceptible to non Tdap infections”. This effect is scientifically echoed with other vaccines also.
Shockingly, the vaccine also boasts 300mcg of aluminium hydroxide, 200mcg aluminium phosphate as well as formaldehyde and polysorbate 80. Research shows that “…aluminium adjuvants have the potential to induce serious immunological disorders in humans. [including]… risk for autoimmunity, long-term brain inflammation and associated neurological complications and may thus have profound and widespread adverse health consequences”. (own emphasis)
An article by paediatrician Dr Lawrence Palevsky also suggests that polysorbate 80 in vaccines may allow vaccine ingredients to enter the brain. He states, “Polysorbate-80 is used in pharmacology to assist in the delivery of certain drugs or chemotherapeutic agents across the blood-brain-barrier.” Furthermore, “Clinical studies have shown [polysorbate 80] to increase the risk of serious side effects (eg, blood clots, stroke, heart attack, heart failure) and death in some cases. Polysorbate 80 may also cause hypersensitivity reactions and anaphylaxis and when used as a vaccine emulsifier, numerous studies confirm that polysorbate 80 can increase cell permeability, damage and bursting”.
Despite this evidence, one must ask, how did such a vaccine come to be recommended for use in pregnancy?
Journalist and author, Christina England reveals that in 2008, a report by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated “Available evidence does not address the safety of Tdap for pregnant women, their foetuses, or pregnancy outcomes sufficiently. Available data also do not indicate whether Tdap-induced transplacental maternal antibodies provide early protection against pertussis to infants or interfere with an infant’s immune responses to routinely administered paediatric vaccines.”
The CDC further emphasises that “The safety and efficacy of using Tdap in pregnant women has not been demonstrated, and Tdap is not recommended for use in pregnant women in any country”.
Despite this, just three years later, the CDC, whose recommendations inform Australian drug and vaccine policies, began to recommend the Tdap vaccine for all women in all pregnancies, even if those pregnancies were only one year apart. This recommendation came about largely because the CDC noted that the majority of resultant hospitalisations and deaths from whooping cough are in children aged under two months and who are too young to be vaccinated.
While conceding that, “In pre-licensure evaluations, the safety of administering a booster dose of Tdap to pregnant women was not studied.”, the CDC went on to reassure women by stating “Because information on use of Tdap in pregnant women was lacking, both manufacturers of Tdap established pregnancy registries to collect information and pregnancy outcomes from pregnant women vaccinated…”. They also collected data from VAERS (vaccine adverse events reporting system) and small studies. The CDC concluded that “… available data from these studies did not suggest any elevated frequency or unusual patterns of adverse events in pregnant women…[and] the few serious adverse events reported were unlikely to have been caused by the vaccine” (own emphasis).
Just as is occurring now, pregnant women who were administered vaccines over the last few years have unknowingly been the test subjects in a max vaccine trial. Their details are entered into a pregnancy register without any sufficient follow up process to determine outcomes in either mother or child following administration of the vaccine, medicos and government bodies will use this data to claim vaccines are safe and effective.
It is unknown if Imogen was advised that adequate safety testing had not been established in pregnant women, or if the administering doctor provided proper informed consent however this potentially opens up the door for a major lawsuit for wrongful death.
“Simply telling people a vaccine is “safe & effective” does not even come close to discharging the Doctor’s duty to obtain informed consent from the patient” said Dean Spanner, a Queensland Law Society Accredited Specialist in injury law from Kennedy Spanner Lawyers with 29 years’ experience.
“Many GP’s are not disclosing the possible adverse reactions listed in vaccine inserts that come with the product. If a GP fails to [do this], in my opinion that GP is at serious risk of being sued if the patient suffers an injury”.
While the CDC claims there is no evidence of harm to mother or baby, an overwhelming amount of anecdotal evidence is surfacing highlighting a correlation between vaccine administration and miscarriage or stillbirth as evidenced from online forum netmums. Marcella Piper-Terry, Founder of VaxTruth has also had recent communications with an insurance billing company representative. The whistle-blower provides damming proof showing foetal demise in many instances, some of which occurred the same day as the vaccine was given.
While many would find it hard to digest that our government, and the media would deliberately deceive us, nothing can be more telling than the reporting of this case. Just two weeks after Imogen’s death, Hansen who is well known for her callous, unsubstantiated articles, released a story titled “Dead mum Imogen Petrak may have caught pneumococcal disease from her child”. In what can only bee seen as an attempt to muddy the waters, Hansen claimed that Imogen died following exposure to pneumococcal strain 19F which she likely acquired from her unvaccinated 18mo son JB.
In response to Hansens article, a furious Fatih Tarasenko, who is believed to be the sister of John’s mother, wrote “I am their Aunt and this is sensationalism at its best. Imogen’s son had a cold nothing more. This is irresponsible reporting…JANE HANSEN…has much to answer for the added pain she is causing this family. False reporting should be a crime. Shame shame shame!!!!!!”.
According to Dr. Humphries, “The clear intent is to stigmatise unvaccinated children even though there is no evidence this mother caught pneumococcal strain 19F meningitis from her child. Where is the proof the child even had mild pneumococcal infection and if a child can get pneumococcal infection and pass it on, why can’t an adult?”.
Based on some of Hansen’s writing portfolio, there is little doubt her primary goal is to stigmatise the non-vaccinating community and that is precisely what she achieved. Many took to Facebook to express their anger at the Petrak family, based on their sons unknown vaccination status, some even celebrating Imogen’s death.
Sharing Hansen’s article, Emma Dalmayne wrote “Why wasn’t her son vaccinated?? Now look what that has caused!”. A Tasmanian based first aider Catalina Gamble, wrote “I might sound like insensitive but I honestly don’t feel sorry… this is what they know can happen but prefer to believe in stupid conspiracies….”. Suzanne Rohead also wrote “Poor choices come back to bite anti-vaxxer on the ass. I am finding it difficult to rustle up any sympathy”.
A more level-headed Dr. Kerry Thornbury, a GP from New Zealand responded to such comments by stating “Sorry but this mother did not ‘deserve’ to die…Immunization against this is only very recent…You can get the infection walking through the corridors of a hospital. Making this an anti vac issue is a very long shot….. And celebrating her death and saying she deserves it because she didn’t vaccinate a toddler is outrageous… The article says the child was ‘unwell’ not that he had pneumococcal disease. I think is it mischievous reporting. Also, mischievous to use another stupid antivaxxer story. I am a physician, I am pro vaccination. I am not pro manipulation”.
It is understood that the Petrak family where not aware Imogen tested positive to strain 19F pneumococcal prior to the release of Hansen’s article. It is still unknown how Hansen was even privy to such information. It is also not understood how Hansen became aware of JB’s vaccination status or if JB was indeed unvaccinated. It seems hardly plausible however, that a mother who chose not to vaccinate her children would consider an experimental vaccine for herself while pregnant.
According to Hansen’s article, JB was “unwell in the days leading up to [Imogen’s] death. If in fact the hospital breeched privacy by leaking Imogen’s medical info to her, Hansen would have also been well aware that Imogen presented with flu-like symptoms 2 days after receiving the Tdap vaccine and well before JB showed any signs of illness. It is implausible for her to have concluded that JB was therefore the source of infection. A more rational conclusion would have been that Imogen contracted pneumococcal while in the hospital following a possible reaction to the Tdap vaccine.
We have seen the media manipulate the truth about the non-vaccinating community before, including last year’s attempt by Victorian Health Minister Jill Hennessy to lead people to believe she was the victim of online bullying. Despite concrete evidence Hennessy fabricated the story, the damage was done.
According to Robert Kennedy Junior., the pharmaceutical industry spends up to $5 billion annually on advertising and “many of the mainstream press outlets are very reluctant to criticise their biggest advertisers”. Does this excuse the media’s blatant lies?
The Petrak family have been through enough tragedy to last a lifetime. They did not need the added burden of worrying that their son may one day grow up to believe he was responsible for his mothers death, nor the resultant public backlash they have received. Despicably, it appears Hansen has attempted to use this tragedy to further her vaccine agenda and to demonise this family so that when the truth came out, many would have already formed their opinions of this innocent family.
If you feel Hansen and the Daily Telegraph were complicit in reporting his story, you can lodge a complaint with the Australian Press Council by filling in this form. If you’d like to donate to the Petrak family, please visit their Go Fund Me campaign.