‘Everybody has to die’: Texas man whose child died from measles explains choice to not vaccinate—
As Texas grapples with its worst outbreak of measles in 30 years, so far only one patient has died from the disease: an unvaccinated “school-aged child” in Gaines County, as described by state health officials.
Little was known about the circumstances of the death until last week, when a journalist for The Atlantic published an account of his heartbreaking conversation with the child’s bereaved father. The piece is both gut-wrenching and startling, as it explores the deep-rooted beliefs that led to a 6-year-old becoming the nation’s first measles fatality in over a decade.
“Everybody has to die,” said the child’s father, identified only as Peter, to The Atlantic. The conversation took place in the parking lot of a Mennonite Church in Seminole, Texas, where the young girl was set to be buried.
