Witnesses
EN
Allison Inquiry | Lisa Watson | Day 4 September 11th, 2026
A 60-year-old Prince Edward Island woman who worked for the Canada Revenue Agency describes left arm weakness and violent leg spasms 12 days after her single Pfizer dose, leading to a diagnosis of transverse myelitis and 10 weeks in hospital. She describes losing mobility, a sensory paradox, learning to walk again with a walker, and a refused exemption.
Lisa Watson, 60, worked in rebates for the Canada Revenue Agency and had just bought an acreage to start a hobby farm with her husband. She says she was healthy, walking 3 to 6 kilometres three times a week, and that the family had decided not to take the COVID vaccine until she needed it to return to work while her youngest daughter was still in high school. She received a single Pfizer dose on June 5, 2021 with no reaction. Twelve days later, in a truck outside a Summerside appointment, she says her left arm went weak, and she thought she was having a stroke. At the Summerside hospital she describes a tightening around her middle like a belt, losing use of her hand, and violent leg spasms, and a nurse saying it was not a stroke. She was taken by ambulance to Charlottetown, and a neurologist diagnosed transverse myelitis, saying he did not see it often. She was hospitalized 10 weeks, lost all mobility in her legs, and found she was paralyzed on her left side but could feel everything there, while her right side moved but had no sensation of heat, cold or pain. She now uses a walker because of drop foot, still has spasms and the midsection tightening, and shows a video of learning to walk again. The host says her injury is recognized by her doctors and the Vaccine Injury Support Program. She says the province's chief medical officer refused her doctor's exemption request and recommended AstraZeneca, which she says was contraindicated because of her atrial fibrillation. She describes losing her hobby farm, her husband's work changes, her daughter's move home, and her hope that her five granddaughters will know who she was.
Lisa Watson, 60, worked in rebates for the Canada Revenue Agency and had just bought an acreage to start a hobby farm with her husband. She says she was healthy, walking 3 to 6 kilometres three times a week, and that the family had decided not to take the COVID vaccine until she needed it to return to work while her youngest daughter was still in high school. She received a single Pfizer dose on June 5, 2021 with no reaction. Twelve days later, in a truck outside a Summerside appointment, she says her left arm went weak, and she thought she was having a stroke. At the Summerside hospital she describes a tightening around her middle like a belt, losing use of her hand, and violent leg spasms, and a nurse saying it was not a stroke. She was taken by ambulance to Charlottetown, and a neurologist diagnosed transverse myelitis, saying he did not see it often. She was hospitalized 10 weeks, lost all mobility in her legs, and found she was paralyzed on her left side but could feel everything there, while her right side moved but had no sensation of heat, cold or pain. She now uses a walker because of drop foot, still has spasms and the midsection tightening, and shows a video of learning to walk again. The host says her injury is recognized by her doctors and the Vaccine Injury Support Program. She says the province's chief medical officer refused her doctor's exemption request and recommended AstraZeneca, which she says was contraindicated because of her atrial fibrillation. She describes losing her hobby farm, her husband's work changes, her daughter's move home, and her hope that her five granddaughters will know who she was.
