We all know that vaccines save lives and we can see it before the figures that show us the amount of lives saved each year. However, the anti-vaccine movement, which was recently named as one of the threats against health by WHO, continues to be strong, causing outbreaks of diseases that were almost eradicated.
Fortunately, although some anti-vaccine parents decided not to put them on their children, they are being informed and are looking for a way to get vaccinated despite their parents' beliefs. This is precisely what he did a young man, who, when he came of age, celebrated it by starting to get all the vaccines he needed, challenging his mother with vaccines.
While many teenagers await the arrival of their coming of age to do things that were forbidden to buy alcohol or go to certain places, Ethan Lindenberger is focused on something more important: his health and disease prevention.
This young He has become news by "rebelling" before his mother, Jill Wheeler, and challenging his anti-vaccine beliefs of her, celebrating her 18th birthday beginning to get all the vaccines she never wanted to give her.
In Babies and more Do you still have doubts? Vaccines save two to three million lives each yearIt all started a couple of months ago thanks to a publication that Ethan made in Reddit, in which he told his case and came asking for help to know where he could go to put them on and to know if at 18 he could still apply them.
My parents are kind of stupid and don't believe in vaccines. Now that I'm 18, where do I go to get vaccinated? Can I get vaccinated at my age? from r / NoStupidQuestions
"My parents are a bit stupid and don't believe in vaccines. Now that I'm 18, where can I go to put them on? Can I get vaccinated at this age?"is the title of your publication, in which he tells how he has had various discussions with his parents about vaccines. "Because of his beliefs I've never been vaccinated at all, only God knows how I'm still alive".
The people in the forum responded to Ethan and provided information about vaccines and what he could do at his age, such as where to go and what to do. Later updated its original publication, announcing that it already had an appointment to go to get its first vaccines:
I have an appointment in a couple of weeks to get my vaccines! My mom was very angry but my dad said that since he was 18 he didn't care much what he did. Although my mother continues trying to convince me not to do it and telling me that I don't take it into account I know that this is something I need to do in spite of it.
Finally, Ethan updated his publication again, in which he says triumphantly that he is already receiving the vaccines he should have had for many years. But although he didn't have any vaccines, according to the NPR website his two older brothers had received some when they were children.
In Babies and more Not vaccinating is crazy: vaccines save livesEverything changed when his mother read that supposed published study in which he related to vaccines with autism and that has been denied hundreds of times, proving that it was a premeditated fraud. After reading that information and knowing that he could choose not to vaccinate his children, he stopped doing so, so Ethan and his four younger siblings never received vaccinations.
Throughout his life, Ethan thought that was normal, until some years ago his school classmates and teachers told him that not being vaccinated was not normal and even dangerous, especially with the recent outbreaks that are emerging in different countries, with the United States being one of those affected.
This was how he He began investigating and realized that his parents' beliefs were based on fraudulent studies that had no scientific basis and that not being vaccinated put his life and that of others at risk. Then, he decided that when he turned 18 the first thing he would do would be to receive his vaccines.
According to a new publication by Ethan on Reddit a few days ago, a website called Undark contacted him to interview him and asked to speak with his mother, for which they both agreed.
While it was not easy for Ethan to tell his mother about his decision because he considers himself a very obedient son and does not usually go against it, for Jill it felt like an insult and a slap in the face: "I didn't vaccinate him because I felt it was the best way to protect him and keep him safe"he declared.
It is not the only case
According to information from The Washington Post, Ethan is not the only teenager who began to realize that something was wrong at home and to question his parents why they had not been vaccinated. For example, also in Reddit, a 15-year-old teenager asks for help in interpreting the health laws of his state and knowing if he can get vaccinated without authorization from his parents, whom he has tried to convince him to do so for four years without any success.
In another publication on Reddit, a minor who does not specify whether he is a man or a woman also comes to ask for help in knowing what he can do to receive the necessary vaccinations without his parents' authorization.
In Babies and more Dutch teenagers can get vaccinated if their parents did not immunize them when they were childrenLike these and Ethan's case, dozens have begun to emerge in the United States and other countries, in which young people are realizing thanks to the news of the danger of not being vaccinated, not only for them, but for other people.
And although his parents are against it, using the false information without scientific bases that continues to travel through social networks, they have decided to take things in their hands and see for their own health, even if that means challenging their own family.
