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On Feb. 1, our community lost one of its most memorable icons. Tanner Welsh passed away from silent aspiration at the age of 24. His father’s writings about Tanner’s journey created a keen awareness about vaccine injury in the broader community.
Tanner’s father Tim’s postings on social media, and earlier platforms such as Yahoo groups and listservs, brought his son’s vaccine injury to the public consciousness. Tim, who was well known in the autism community as “Tanner’s Dad,” became a prominent and prolific messenger in the health freedom movement.
Up until the age of four and a half, Tanner had met all his developmental milestones on time or ahead of schedule and he had been able to lead a happy and active life. Everything changed after he received seven different vaccines in three shots in preparation for kindergarten. At that point, Tanner lost all of the developmental skills he had acquired, and according to Tim, it was like “letting the air out of a balloon.”
Two days after receiving the seven vaccines, Tanner ran into the living room and said, “My name is Tanner. My name is Tanner.” Those were the last words Tanner was able to speak in this lifetime.
This moving interview with Polly Tommey from 2016 captures some important information about the family’s history.
We at Children’s Health Defense send our heartfelt condolences to Tim, Cheri and all who knew and loved Tanner.
