Fort McMurray father fights for mandatory vaccinations after baby exposed to measles

Jerry Wrice is fighting for mandatory vaccinations laws after his infant son — who suffers from a rare and aggressive brain cancer — was exposed to the airborne virus in an Edmonton emergency room.

"As a cancer patient,  you undergo some pretty extreme chemotherapy protocols and with that comes a stressed immune system and to get an exposure like this, it can be life threatening," Wrice said in an interview on CBC radio's Edmonton AM Thursday.

"It could have been a life and death situation for Liam."

At a mere 10 months old, Liam was diagnosed with Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumour requiring the removal of tumour occupying a quarter of his cranial cavity.

Since then, he's been travelling from his home in Fort McMurray to undergo chemotherapy at Edmonton's Stollery Hospital.

The treatments leave his tiny body dangerously vulnerable to any illness, so when the 14-month-old came came down with a fever on March 13th, he was rushed to the hospital for observation. 

Five days later, the family learned that they had all been exposed to measles during that trip to the ER.

Liam, who had never been well enough to receive a vaccination, was placed under quarantine for three weeks.

"Dealing with the unknown of the cancer itself is stressful enough, and then to understand that you've been exposed to a potentially deadly virus, it was an extremely stressful time.

"There was a lot of anxiousness, anger, frustration and fear of the unknown," said Wrice, who launched his petition last month, during those agonizing 21 days before Liam was cleared by doctors. 

"Until my child was exposed,  it was something that I really gave zero thought to, until it came to my family. And that's when I decided to take action and get a petition going."

Wrice hopes his son's story will prompt the federal government to regulate childhood vaccinations and raise awareness. Controversy around vaccinations, based unfounded claims that they cause autism, has the led to declining immunization rates among children. 

But Wrice says parents need to know that choosing not to vaccinate is a dangerous decision.

"We need to protect everyone. It`s not just your own child. It`s herd immunity for all the children around you. For children that aren't able to receive vaccination due to health reasons. We have a long way to go when it comes to this issue," Wrice said.

"Liam is doing well now, thank God."