Heather Brooke Simpson once found herself going viral for what she thought were the right reasons.
Back in the fall of 2019, the mom went viral for dressing up as the measles for Halloween. "Was trying to think of the least scary thing I could be for Halloween … so I became the measles," she captioned her shot. It would go viral as masses both agreed and disagreed with Heather's assessment. At that time, she could never see herself supporting vaccines.
In early 2020, however, some things happened that changed Heather's mind. First, her child was scratched by the family cat and offered a tetanus shot. Heather turned it down, but the thought of it lingered on her mind. Then she mentioned she'd be getting endometriosis surgery and was attacked by anti-vaxxers who also believed a clean diet would cure her. It was then that Heather began reexamining her beliefs.
Heather Brooke Simpson was surprised when she found that the like-minded individuals she'd come to know as part of the anti-vaccine movement turned on her for getting endometriosis surgery.
"It was so upsetting," she told the New York Post.
"They made me feel guilty — as if I was being lazy — but, without the surgery, I knew I was putting my life at risk."
The next month, she got even more backlash when she explained she "didn’t want to abolish vaccines, just to make them safer, because I know at some point, at least one vaccine somewhere has saved someone's life."
The hate she started getting online induced panic attacks and led her to an ER visit. "I got hundreds of comments saying that I was this plant by the government; that I was never anti-vax; the government put me here to gain information from them and that I am in cahoots with the Clintons," she recalled.
In reality, Heather came to the anti-vax movement in 2016 when she and her husband were expecting their first child. Heather got pregnant, after a long time of trying, and credited it to the "autoimmune protocol diet," which cuts out refined sugars, dairy, and grain in favor of fruit, pickles, and bone broth.
As she watched more documentaries and got deeper into the beliefs, Heather went from applying them to her own family to speaking out on them. It was during that time she posted the infamous photo.
As the coronavirus became a reality in the US, Heather watched as the people she knew began peddling QAnon conspiracy theories.
"I realized they were just ridiculous," she shared.
"I couldn't believe the entitlement and recklessness."
Heather has learned to trust science after doing more research. She's slowly catching her daughter up on her vaccines and exercising her own right to get hers.
"I was horrible," she admitted.
"But I don't think I was a bad person. I made a lot of bad choices and thought I was smarter than everyone else."
Heather even got her COVID-19 vaccine. "It was liberating to know I was doing my part to end the pandemic for good," she said.
