Danielle Baker is a registered nurse, a wife, and a mother of two.
She said she used to be very active and healthy as a soccer mom, hiker, and caretaker and for nearly 20 years, she worked as a registered nurse at Ohio’s Hospice, Inc.
In May 2021, Baker received an email from her employer Amy Wagner—the president of the hospice—who encouraged 100 percent of employees to get the COVID-19 vaccination.
If employees didn’t start the vaccination process by July 1, 2021, they would no longer be eligible for “extra paid COVID-19 days directly related to time missed because of COVID-19 symptoms, quarantine, vaccine symptoms, etc.”
In 2021, to be considered fully vaccinated, people 6 years and older needed two doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
“As of April 18, 2023, the original Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are no longer authorized for use by the FDA in the United States,” according to the CDC.
Danielle said she opted to get the two Pfizer shots because:
“We also knew it was going to be mandated in July. So I opted to take it when I felt there was a safety net that if something happened per their email, I would have coverage and it wasn’t that way.”
She got her first shot on June 4, 2021.
“I had gotten my second shot on June 26 and had ended in the emergency room within 24 hours. From that point, I never got better. On July the 17th is when I developed a severe back pain and I started to lose the feeling and function in all of my extremities over the next four days.”
She was eventually diagnosed with transverse myelitis.
An Ohio neurologist, Dr. Jon Durrani said in a September 2022 report that “the COVID-19 vaccine is the cause of Ms. Baker’s health issues related to transverse myelitis.”
Danielle says her life is nothing like it was.
“I stare at the four walls all day.”
Danielle applied for worker’s compensation but her application and subsequent appeals were denied then she appealed to an Ohio state court.
She said it didn’t take long before the court granted her a jury trial.
“I’ve never taken anyone to court before and when I opened that letter it was a win.”
