Super Moms

The HighWire has featured Texas super-activist-mom Jackie Schlegel, whose tireless efforts helped bring about the strictest legislation against vaccine mandates in all 50 states, including Florida. Anyone aware of the vaccine debates of the past several years has heard of Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, who made the public aware of the connection between vaccines and autism back when hardly anyone talked about it. Schlegel and McCarthy-Wahlberg are two of many moms helping to create a better world. They may not wear capes, but these women comprise a unique class of citizenry called Super Moms.

Warrior mom Zen Honeycutt never wanted to be an activist. She had previously worked as a fashion designer, but when her children got sick with issues related to allergies and autism, Honeycutt did lots of research on the foods they ate. Her sons’ health showed dramatic improvement when embarking on an organic diet and eliminating GMO’S and pesticides. Her desire to help other parents led to Honeycutt’s formation of Moms Across America, an organization dedicated to researching the health of the food we give our children. She also co-created Mothers Across the World with Dr. Vandana Shiva. 

In a groundbreaking study, Moms Across America looks at the 21 biggest fast-food chains that provide our children’s school lunches. The organization has found high levels of deadly toxins, heavy metals, and chemicals, including glyphosate. They also found these fast foods deficient in key nutrients for mental health.  

In 2018, Honeycutt published a book called “Unstoppable: Transforming Sickness and Struggle into Triumph, Empowerment and a Celebration of Community,” in which Honeycutt teaches the average parent how to feed his/her family in a health-giving way. She also produced Communities Rising, a short film that brings to light the epidemic health crisis in our country and how we can make better choices. 

Brianne Dressen, a mother of two and former preschool teacher, followed along with the masking and social distancing program during the COVID lockdowns. She participated in the medical trial of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot in November of 2020 when Fauci and Co. called for volunteers. “I thought this was my way of doing my duty to this country,” she said. Dressen felt tingling down her arm within an hour of receiving the shot. She went on to experience more adverse events, such as blurred vision and heightened sensitivity to light and noise, to the point that she had to stop teaching. Dressen’s vaccine-injury symptoms eventually included loss of bladder control, temperature dysregulation, and tachycardia. Between hospital visits, because of her intolerable symptoms, Dressen had to isolate herself in her bedroom for several months. When Dressen’s legs failed her, doctors told her that her limb weakness was from “anxiety due to the COVID vaccine.”

After getting no help from her doctors, Dressen’s husband, a chemist, reached out to leading COVID researchers worldwide to try to help her. In June 2021, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) took Dressen’s case, and her situation improved with treatment. 

Dressen went on to co-found React19, a research organization that works to increase understanding of COVID-19’s role in those who experience prolonged symptoms after acute infection or vaccination. React19 recently partnered with University of Maryland, Baltimore, to conduct the first-ever International Review Board (IRB)-approved, patient-led study “by the vaccine injured-for the vaccine injured.”

We don’t need to wait until May to celebrate these Super Moms. They fight all year long so that we can live our best lives. In turn, we can take a leaf out of their book and find our own special superpowers.