QUEBEC-RESEARCH-L Archives
Archiver > QUEBEC-RESEARCH > 2005-04 > 1112971550
From: Jacqueline Doty <>
Subject: 20th Century Plague
Date: Fri, 8 Apr 2005 09:45:50 -0500
I received the first polio shots in high school in the mid 1950's.
My baby sister had polio in 1949..she was only 22months old, but
survived, though she had problems with leg weakness for years. Hers
was what was called the "bulbar type," meaning it affected her
breathing muscles. My older sister had a mild case at the same time.
I was sent to live at my aunt's lake cabin until the crisis was over,
and stayed well.
That same month an 18-year-old young man who lived on the next block
died from the disease. My cousin had polio the next summer, and had
numerous surgeries to restore function in one leg.
I remember a statewide contest to pick a name for a baby boy born to
his mother who was confined to an Iron Lung.
My husband remembers he and his sister weren't allowed to leave the
yard during those polio plagued summers.
Jackie
"She that dares not grasp the thorn, should never crave the rose."
This thread:
| 20th Century Plague by Jacqueline Doty <> |