WA health authorities are investigating after a grandmother developed bruising all over her body days after receiving her first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The daughter of 80-year-old Maureen DeBoick, from near Mt Barker in the Great Southern, shared shocking images of her elderly mother’s bruise-covered hands, saying she had to be airlifted from Albany to Fiona Stanley Hospital two weeks ago for treatment.
“It started off as a spot on her tongue that got bigger overnight,” Trudy Love posted on social media. “It progressed very quickly to the inside of her gums bleeding & everywhere she touched on her body came out in a huge dark bruise straight away.
“If she rubbed it, it bled out.” Ms Love said the photographs of her mother’s hands were taken within the first two days of the condition appearing and it “progressively got worse all over her body”.
The family today said blood tests before she was taken by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to Perth showed that her platelet count had dropped to zero. “A bone marrow biopsy at Fiona Stanley has shown that Maureen is producing blood platelets, however these are not present in her blood,” the family said.
“One solution suggested by doctors is to remove her spleen.
“Maureen’s platelet count has increased slightly over the last few days to 10 and she is now responding to steroid treatment. We hope for this to continue so she can recover at home.”
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