I lived in the Murray Mallee when polio hit me just before Christmas 1946. My mother had a one- month-old baby girl and called on the next-door neighbours to look after her when I came out of hospital. My father (wrongly) blamed himself for letting the flies give it to me when we were out looking for a pine tree to take home for our Christmas tree.
My uncle owned a car and drove me to the Children’s Hospital where I think I must have stayed for 2 months. When I got home, I was in a frame and not even allowed to sit up to drink. I learnt to draw daisies by holding a pencil between my toes. In our town the doctor’s wife was a physio and I think that is why I made such a remarkable recovery. When I started school in 1948, I was wearing one shoe built up probably a good inch or more by the local cobbler. As my legs grew, they ended up to within a quarter of an inch of the same length. I came last in all running races at school but showed no evidence of what had happened to me. I cannot tell whether I have any lasting effects, apart from a weak neck and tiring easily. But that may not be because of polio. As for late effects, well, the bottom of my spine is degraded but that could be age related. I ruptured a disc after a long-haul flight but so do others reaching for the overhead locker or the carousel! I was reluctant to join Polio SA because everyone else is more incapacitated than me. Eventually I made contact by attending a workshop at Tea Tree Gully library but even then, held back. It was the hydrotherapy option that finally made me join, and what a wonderful loosening up of stiffness that gives me !
Thankyou to Helen for sharing her story.