An Ohio teenager defied his mother鈥檚 wishes by going to get vaccinated for the first time in his life when he turned 18.
In November, Ethan Lindenberger for information on vaccines in a post that has since gone viral.
The teenager from Norwalk, Ohio wrote that his 鈥減arents are kind of stupid and don鈥檛 believe in vaccines鈥� and he was looking for information on how to get vaccinated for diseases such as measles, polio, mumps, and chickenpox.
鈥淢y parents think vaccines are some kind of government scheme,鈥� Lindenberger wrote. 鈥淚t's stupid and I've had countless arguments over the topic. But, because of their beliefs I've never been vaccinated for anything, God knows how I'm still alive.鈥�
He said his mother was 鈥渆specially angry鈥� about his decision, but his father 鈥渄idn鈥檛 care that much鈥� because he鈥檚 18 years old now.
Lindenberger鈥檚 post received more than a thousand comments with advice on how and where he should go to receive his shots.
The online advice appears to have helped because a month later Lindenberger to his original Reddit post, in which he said he had finally received his vaccines.
鈥淭he doctors and my friends have been really supportive which helped when my mom put me down and told me how disappointed she was [that] I was wanting to get my vaccines,鈥� he wrote in January.
In an interview with CNN, Lindenberger said his conversation with his parents about him getting vaccinated was actually civil.
鈥淚t really wasn't like I kind of raised my fist in the air and said like, 鈥榊ou idiots, I'm getting vaccinated,鈥欌�� he recalled. 鈥淚 sat down with them and I said, 鈥楾his is the evidence I have鈥� and I presented it as best I could and they didn't agree and once I turned 18 I said 鈥楨ven though we disagree still, I鈥檓 going to pursue vaccinations.鈥�
Lindenberger said it took a few more discussions about the topic for them to find some understanding and they鈥檙e now in a 鈥済reat spot.鈥�
鈥淢y parents are very happy that I'm continuing to express that the importance of vaccines is beyond just me and other people, and I'm glad to share that story,鈥� he said.
