CASE OF HENRY PLANT
On September 1, 1911, at the age of eighteen years and eight months, Henry Plant was admitted into the Royal Navy, at Wolverhampton, as a second-class stoker, and passed a searching medical examination by a naval doctor at Birmingham. He was sent to Portsmouth, served on the “Victory” till September 24, and was then drafted to the “Renown.” Shortly afterwards he was vaccinated in three places, high up on the left shoulder. On October 19, 1911, he was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar, suffering from influenza. Severe shooting pains from the left shoulder to the finger-tips developed, and for sixteen days he was treated for rheumatism. After sixteen days’ intense suffering an operation was performed, an abscess was discovered, and from this time till the arm was amputated on July 9, 1912, the poor fellow suffered unceasingly. Four Members of Parliament took up the case, and the final result was a compassionate grant of £50 compensation and the offer of a situation at Devonport under the Admiralty. Representatives worked for nearly seven months to secure justice for the young man, and though the Admiralty have never admitted that the loss of the arm was due to vaccination, their action in compensating Plant is an admission of responsibility. The facts in this and the following case are taken from a circular issued by The National Anti-Vaccination League, London.