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Carole Avoine Sworn: AstraZeneca and Sudden Bell’s Palsy

Day 3 · 1:23:38 · Myriam Bohémier · Carole Avoine · Carol Messenger

  • 💉 Quebec mother of four, on burnout leave, took AstraZeneca on 22 April 2021 to meet new-job vaccine rules, believing it closest to traditional vaccines.
  • 😮‍💨 After mild early symptoms she awoke on her daughter’s birthday with half her face paralyzed, sparking family panic over possible stroke.
  • 🏥 ER visit alone under COVID rules lasted under ten minutes; physician dismissed any vaccine link and refused a work note.

New witness begins recounting facial paralysis after the viral-vector shot.

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Transcript

Myriam Bohémier · 1:23:38

And Myriam Bohémier, counsel, is going to be calling the next witness. Jurez-vous de dire toute la vérité, rien que la vérité, juste la vérité dite?

Myriam Bohémier · 1:24:09

Je le jure.

Carole Avoine · 1:24:11

Je le jure.

Myriam Bohémier · 1:24:12

Parfait.

Myriam Bohémier · 1:24:14

Donc, Madame Carole Avoine, vous êtes une femme, c'est une bataille, mère de 4 enfants âgés entre 23 et 37 ans, et vous allez être grand-mère pour la première fois à la fin du mois de septembre. Et au moment de la vaccination, vous étiez en arrêt de travail pour burnout?

Carol Messenger · 1:24:36

Ouais, c'est ça, j'étais en arrêt de travail pour épuisement professionnel qui est arrivé en 2019, puis en 2020, ben, je venais de perdre ma mère aussi en 2020, fait que ça a comme prolongé un peu mon épuisement psychologique et professionnel.

Myriam Bohémier · 1:24:52

Donc, racontez-nous comment c'est arrivé que vous avez été vaccinée vaccinée avec une dose d'AstraZeneca le 22 avril 2021. Comment c'est arrivé cette vaccination-là? Parce que vous avez une histoire particulière.

Carole Avoine · 1:25:09

En fait, j'ai une histoire particulière. Oui, donc j'ai été en arrêt de travail pendant 2 ans, donc j'ai dû trouver un nouveau job. Et où je vivais, ils demandaient une preuve de vaccination pour les travailleurs. So I figured that I would go because that would solve the issue. Because I was not anti-vax, I want to specify that. I've had all of my childhood vaccinations, so did my children. So for me, it was pretty normal to be vaccinated. However, with the information that I had, I heard that AstraZeneca had been— was the most similar vaccine to old vaccines. So that's the main reason why I chose AstraZeneca, and I, I'm one of the 400-some thousand people who received AstraZeneca in Quebec.

Carole Avoine · 1:26:13

So they opened, so they opened new time slots for AstraZeneca, and they also It reduced the age, so that's why I became eligible for it. So that's how I got my appointment for AstraZeneca, and I thought that it would be a better vaccine. So, so it's— so they made it sound like you were one of the lucky ones. Yes. And when the online platform opened up and when all the appointments were taken, there was a press conference with Minister Dubé, and he congratulated all the people who managed to get an appointment, and he said that all those who got an appointment, consider yourselves lucky. It's as if you've won the lottery. Well, today I'd like to return my prize. So following your vaccination with AstraZeneca on April 22, 2021, tell us what happened.

Carole Avoine · 1:27:17

Well, for the first 20 days, I did not really have side effects. I maybe had a light fever. And then on my daughter's birthday, and I will always remember that, I had just found a new job. I had gone to work for 2 days and then I felt some pain or pulling in my ear, and it started pulling around my mouth. And I thought it was due to stress, so I decided to go lie down, and maybe that would solve the issue, and I'd go to work the next day. But when I woke up the next morning, half of my face was paralyzed.