- Lucy Hinks is unable to walk or talk after having injections at school
- Parents warn others to check on potential side effects of Cervarix vaccine
By Paul Sims
15th November 2011
Bad reaction: Lucy Hinks, 13, began to experience extreme exhaustion soon after having the cervical cancer vaccine alongside classmates
They were told the vaccine had few side-effects and would protect their daughter from cervical cancer.
But Steve and Pauline Hinks are convinced the controversial HPV jab is behind their daughter Lucy’s mystery illness which is making her sleep up to 23 hours a day.
Tests have so far ruled out a brain tumour and glandular fever and the 13-year-old’s paediatric consultant is investigating potential links with the vaccine Cervarix.
The jab was used in a national vaccination programme which started in September 2008. But it has already been linked to several cases of girls displaying severe side-effects.
Before she received the vaccine, Lucy was perfectly healthy, had an excellent school attendance record and was among the top students in her year.
But just weeks after she received the third dose of Cervarix in May this year she began to feel exhausted. By July she had lost a stone in weight and was sleeping almost round-the-clock.
‘Some nights I’ve been so worried that I wake several times to make sure she’s still breathing,’ said her mother.
‘I was concerned about the potential side-effects because Lucy had a severe reaction from the MMR vaccine.
‘But I was reassured by the school nurse that side-effects were extremely unlikely. We feel betrayed because, like most parents, we trust the health authorities with our children’s lives.’
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