When Alex Dempsey took her baby to get vaccinated, the Virginia mom was doing it in the hopes of protecting her son. But the 4-month-old died from meningitis just days later, likely after contracting it from an unvaccinated stranger at the doctor's office during that appointment.
The tragic turn of events had this family at a complete loss. According to reports, Killy Schultz, died one day after developing a rash at day care. During the drive home, Killy's temperature spiked, and when Tylenol didn't help, Dempsey decided to take him to the emergency room.
Killy's condition quickly deteriorated.
He was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital in Richmond, Virginia. This was just two days after Killy had been vaccinated, and doctors broke the news that they suspected he was suffering from swelling of the protective membranes around his brain and spinal cord.
Doctors believe he contracted the illness during his vaccine appointment.
Doctors suspect that Killy contracted the infection that took his life during his vaccination appointment. It had only been 24 hours between getting sick and ultimately losing his life.
“He was so swollen and purple, and it really didn’t look like him anymore, but I still hold him to tell him how beautiful he was, and he was far more than I ever deserved to have, and I told him how hard he had fought, and that we were so proud of him,” Dempsey said.
They knew there was little chance of survival.
"The moment they said meningitis I knew there was a really strong possibility that we were going to lose him. They told us we were going to hit the window if he was going to make it or not but being he was only four months old he didn’t really have an immune system to help us with that," Dempsey told WTVR.
"Just out of the blue his heart rate dropped, and they started to do CPR and after 10 minutes of CPR you don’t come back from that, so we had to tell them to stop. After 10 minutes of CPR grown adults don’t come back from that. He was brain dead.”
The Virginia Department of Health conducted an investigation.
According to Dempsey and her fiancé, Gabriel Schultz, the Virginia Department of Health started investigating the situation after Killy's death. The department also worked to protect anyone else potentially exposed, including those at his day care.
"Health officials we’ve spoken to who have been trying to track this down. That’s just their best guess that an unvaccinated person was carrying it around and my child happened to be the one who came in contact with it,” she said at the time.
"If anything comes out of this we want people to be aware that vaccinations can prevent things like this. Vaccines aren’t just for kids. They’re for adults too. He was just a baby, so he really didn’t have much of a chance."
The family urges others to stay up-to-date on vaccines.
As the family continues to grieve, they hope this is a wake-up call for getting up to date on vaccines — instead of the catalyst for a political argument about the topic. "This is is a nightmare no parent, no family, should ever have to experience," the family's GoFundMe page reads.
"Please, out of respect for the family, no politicizing this tragedy … This is the time to come together and help a family going through something no human should ever have to face."
The CDC recommends the vaccine for teens and preteens.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends all preteens and teenagers should receive at least one of the meningococcal vaccines, with a strong recommendation to receive the second option as well. Recommendations for babies are unclear.
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