On the morning of Jan. 15, 2022, Debbie Botzum-Pearman, who had been a strong healthy woman for 66 years, woke up paralyzed from the chest down. On Sept. 13, 2022, nearly nine months later, she managed to stand up without assistance for 10 seconds. Since then, she has made a steady recovery.
She has regained sensation in her thighs and taken her first steps with a walker. But, a long journey remains ahead of her. Debbie’s symptoms appeared less than a month after her first Pfizer covid-19 booster shot. She had taken the shot in mid-December and felt fine, the same as with her previous covid-19 shots.
Looking back now, Debbie realized that leading up to her sudden paralysis, she had been feeling that her bra was getting too tight. This sensation is also called MS (multiple sclerosis) hug, and some people can experience these symptoms even without MS. The first dominoes toppled on Jan. 14. She was finishing her painting work at her friend’s house when she realized that she could not pee despite having the urge to urinate.
“I was drinking water … could not pee, just could not pee,” she told The Epoch Times.