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Community Corner

Out of the Blue: Latysha Dupreé Recalls Vaccination Trauma

After scary experience in the Air Force, former La Mesa Dale playground attendant is more alert.

When Latysha Dupreé joined the Air Force years ago, she had no idea that a mere six months would have such an impact on her life.

In keeping with military policy, mandatory vaccinations are given all new recruits. In Dupreé’s case, she recalls an assembly line of newbies, with medics on either side administering vaccinations into each arm near the shoulder.

“I just remember the traumatic part of it because I collapsed, and then I was hospitalized and medically honorably discharged,” said Dupreé, a former playground attendant at before she retired earlier this year.

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“I wanted to make it a career, but they told me they didn’t want me to collapse on their computers,” she said. “It changed me. Before, I used to be really outgoing; now I’m really alert [to] my surroundings.”

She was discharged before ever reaching her formal occupation. As a result of the experience, she says she now finds the type of environment she lives in very important. That’s why she likes La Mesa, where she’s lived with kids Joshua and Candace for six years.  

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“I’ve never encountered a problem of any kind here,” she said. “Everybody loves on you, and you just don’t want to leave.”

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