CO-FOUNDER

Michelle Worton was once a thriving, vibrant, healthcare professional with over 20 years of experience in dentistry and dental hygiene, including founding the first dental hygiene clinic in Northern British Columbia. She served on the Board of Directors and Inquiry Committee for the College of Dental Hygienists of BC, demonstrating leadership, mentorship, governance and regulatory expertise. She provided pro bono dental care to underserved communities, led national initiatives for 15 years, and pursued academic studies in Health Sciences at Thompson Rivers University, reflecting her enduring commitment to service, education, and advancing healthcare innovation. Faced with pending regulatory body vaccine mandates in the egregious province of British Columbia, coercion, discrimination, condemnation, and exploitation, she received the COVID-19 injection. With her livelihood and commitment to her dental hygiene practice on the line, her second injection would forever alter the trajectory of her life, developing numerous immune and neurological conditions - including undergoing brain surgery in 2023. Her research-driven healthcare background with community engagement, patient advocacy, and national public health initiatives led her to Co-Found CANrise19.  Michelle medically retired in 2025 and withdrew from her undergraduate degree in 2023, and as a result of her injury.

A patient of Michelle’s once said, “If you build it, they will come.” Courage comes from doing what is right, from speaking loudly, and taking action in the face of fear. It requires boldness, and it requires being seen. Even when courage comes with great reservation, it is a responsibility. Courage does not always feel brave, but it does feel right. And Canadian’s need that voice. Hence, building a community that is unified.

We will be addressing this for the rest of our lives. Determined, Michelle has embraced her new leadership role, becoming a light within the darkness. Bodily autonomy, informed consent, restoring our medical freedoms, transparency, and health policy reform is more critical than ever.

CO-FOUNDER

As a Class of 2020 graduate, Julie experienced the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic nearly immediately. What was initially supposed to be a 2 week shift to online learning to “help flatten the curve”, quickly turned into completing the final 6 weeks of her undergraduate degree in Behavioural Psychology online. Despite plans to host an in-person graduation ceremony for the students, “when it became safe to do so”, her post-secondary institution did not follow through with these promises. Julie and her classmates never received the opportunity to take part in a formal convocation celebration. Instead, an online version of the event was a held an entire year after their studies concluded. This marked the pandemic’s first disappointment for Julie.

Despite a pre-existing fear of needles, Julie made the decision to receive the COVID-19 vaccines to protect herself and the high-risk individuals in her life. Unfortunately, after sustaining her vaccine injury, Julie was abandoned, not only by the medical system, but also by many of those she thought were her closest friends. Then, in August of 2023, after 1.5 years of feeling alone, she discovered React19. Following her participation in the pilot emotional support group, in November of 2023, Julie became React19’s volunteer support group coordinator. A year later, after discovering that they had attended the same medical clinic in Utah, she joined forces with Michelle to co-found CANrise19.

Julie is additionally pursuing a Masters Degree in Counselling Psychology, with Yorkville University. Due to the impacts of her injury, she is taking a reduced course load. Once she has graduated, Julie plans to register with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) to provide formal support groups and individual counselling services to vaccine injured Ontarians. She looks forward to attending the in-person graduation held in New Brunswick, to compensate for the circumstances surrounding her 2020 college graduation.

ADVOCACY DIRECTOR

Renee Seginowich is a passionate advocate who is based in Victoria, British Columbia. She is living with confirmed cases of small fiber neuropathy, central sensitization, and benign fasciculation syndrome after a COVID-19 vaccine injury in 2021. What initially began for Renee as an attempt to protect her job and do the right thing turned into a life altering health crisis. One which left her feeling not only physically debilitated, but also emotionally abandoned.

After her injury, Renee faced disbelief from friends, dismissal from doctors, and a sense of betrayal by the very systems meant to protect her. Feeling isolated and gaslit, she turned to online communities for support. There, she discovered others who were just like her. People who were hurting, unheard, and searching for answers. It was through these connections that she met Julie and Michelle, and together they found strength in their shared truth. It wasn’t until 6 months later preparing for the CANrise19 site launch that the women discovered they had more than just their stories in common . . . they also shared a LOT number. 

Now a dedicated member of the CANRise19 community, Renee is committed to helping others feel the compassion, validation, and solidarity she initially lacked. She advocates fiercely for the vaccine injured, aiming to ensure no one feels alone, silenced, or “crazy” for what they are going through. Her message is simple but powerful: “We believe you. You’re not alone. And your story matters.”