A nurse who ignored pleas from a conspiracy theorist family to refuse a Covid vaccine has come to regret it after she was left hospital following a stabbing.
Nurse Haylee Horton, 45, was diagnosed with an “immune reaction following vaccination”. Pert at Peel Health Campus after a five-day stay.
Ms Haylee resumed breastfeeding in late 2021 after maternity leave, but to do so required a Covid vaccination under Western Australia mandates at the time.
However, four relatives vocally opposed the stabbing.
“They begged me not to do it, especially my aunt,” Horton told Daily Mail Australia.
“Everyone seemed crazy at the time, to be honest. We almost had a family conflict. I thought everyone was crazy, honestly.
Perth nurse Haylee Horton (45) says she quickly regretted her decision to get the Covid-19 vaccination after an immune reaction to the vaccine left her fighting for her life in hospital
On October 11, 2021, Mrs Horton asked her GP for advice about the Covid vaccine.
He told her she was at increased risk of contracting Covid due to multiple sclerosis, which since being diagnosed in 2014 has been controlled by six-monthly infusions of an autoimmune drug.
“I have never had a problem with any other vaccine,” Horton said.
“As nurses, you have to get these types of injections.”
Following her doctor's advice, Ms Horton received the Pfizer vaccine at her local GP surgery in southwest Perth.
Shortly after receiving the second Pfizer vaccine, Ms Horton spent five days in hospital and was diagnosed with a post-vaccination immune reaction
Mrs. Horton stated that she felt unwell for the next two days “completely nonsense” and I was tired.
However, she put it down to having a young daughter who was a magnet for viruses into the house.
On November 12, Ms Horton received her second Pfizer vaccination.
The following weekend, Mrs. Horton was organizing a joint birthday party for herself and her daughter when she burned her tongue on asparagus.
“(The burn) turned into a massive ulcer on my tongue,” she said.
The next morning she woke up with a severe headache, sore throat and nausea, forcing her to stay in bed.
The next day, she began vomiting, shaking from the fever and experiencing a “throbbing headache”.
On November 17, a family friend took Ms Horton to the emergency room at Peel Health Campus in Perth while her husband was caring for their one-year-old child.
Eventually, the doctor told Mrs. Horton that she was neutropenic, meaning she had a severe drop in the number of white blood cells that fight infections.
“I realized how sick I was and how dangerous it could have been for me to be left on an open ward with such a weakened immune system,” Ms Horton said.
A Perth nurse has “never had a problem with any other vaccine” before she had her Covid jab
After taking antibiotics overnight, Mrs. Horton's white blood cell count improved significantly, approaching normal levels, but her neutrophil count remained low.
The doctor wanted to send Ms Horton home but she told him she still felt “terrible”.
“Then I told him my stomach hurt and when he touched it I almost went through the roof,” she said.
“He ordered an ultrasound, which revealed acute cholecystitis (inflammation of the gallbladder).”
This led to a further four nights in hospital where Ms Horton was given antibiotics and painkillers.
She was eventually discharged home, and the discharge summary stated that she had experienced an “immune reaction following vaccination.”
Ms Horton's health deteriorated rapidly after she received her second Pfizer Covid vaccine, leaving her in hospital for five days (stock photo)
Despite receiving a letter from a professor of neurology that she had had a life-threatening vaccine reaction, Mrs Horton was told she still needed a third vaccination to breastfeed again
Ms Horton was told she would still need a third Covid-19 vaccine to work as a nurse again due to the state's stringent vaccine requirements at the time.
She applied for an exemption from this requirement by submitting a letter from a professor of neurology stating that she had “a documented adverse reaction to both the first and second Pfizer coronavirus (vaccines) … leading to a 6-day hospital admission with the potential fatal effect – threatening neutropin.
“From a medical perspective, it is recognized that neutropenia may be a complication of the Pfizer vaccination… there is a significant risk of neutropenia if another coronavirus vaccine is administered,” the letter stated.
However, she was not granted leave and was forced to leave her job.
Mrs. Horton said that while conditions such as myocarditis and pericarditis have been well documented as side effects of the Covid vaccine, other rarer reactions like hers “are likely to remain unrecognized.”
“There needs to be a full investigation into vaccines and recognition of all those who have been harmed over the last three years,” Horton said.
“Thankfully, my disease has resolved, but many people are suffering devastating consequences.”
Peel Campus Hospital was contacted for comment but did not confirm whether it had reported Ms Horton for an adverse reaction to the vaccine to the medical regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
