World Polio Day October 24, 2024

POLIO SURVIVORS!

Joni Mitchell Born 1942 - In December 1951, at the age of nine, Joni Mitchell [photo] woke up unable to move her legs due to contracting polio. She was sent to a city clinic for treatment, where she spent weeks alone, as her parents never visited. Faced with the possibility of life in an iron lung, Joni, always rebellious, started smoking during her hospital stay. This habit persisted, and she smoked four packs a day for much of her life.

During that freezing winter in the hospital, Joni started singing for the other polio patients, whether they liked it or not. She explained, "They said I might not walk again and that I would not be able to go home for Christmas. I wouldn't go for it. So I started to sing Christmas carols, and I used to sing them real loud. The boy in the bed next to me, you know, used to complain. And I discovered I was a ham."

Adrian Adepitan - Born 1973- Television presenter and wheelchair basketball player, Adepitan caught polio, aged six months, in Nigeria. His left side is weakened, especially his left leg.

David Sanborn - Born 1945 Jazz saxophonist [photo]. He contracted polio, aged three, and spent one year in an iron lung, followed by two years in bed.

He was advised to learn a wind instrument to help with his recovery.

Sanborn is now affected by post-polio syndrome.

Alan Alda – born 1936 Actor who played Hawkeye Pierce in the television series M*A*S*H.

Alda contracted polio at age seven, during an epidemic. His parents administered a painful treatment, developed by Sister Elizabeth Kenny, in which hot woollen blankets were applied to the limbs and the muscles were stretched by massage.

Neil Young Born 1945 Singer-songwriter and guitarist [photo]. He caught polio at age five, during the epidemic of 1951.

Franklin D. Roosevelt 1882–1945 The 32nd President of the United States, FDR was stricken with a paralytic illness in 1921, at age 39. His main symptoms were fever; symmetric, ascending paralysis; facial paralysis; bowel and bladder dysfunction; numbness and hyperesthesia; and a descending pattern of recovery. He was left permanently paralyzed from the waist down.

FDR was diagnosed with polio, but retrospective analysis suggested his symptoms are more consistent with Guillain–Barré syndrome – an autoimmune neuropathy which his doctors failed to consider as a diagnostic possibility. In 1926, his belief in the benefits of hydrotherapy led him to found a rehabilitation center at Warm Springs, Georgia. In 1938, he founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (now the March of Dimes), leading to the development of two types of polio vaccine.

Francis Ford Coppola--Born 1939 - Film director, producer, and screenwriter.

He recalls, "When I was nine I was confined to a room for over a year with polio, and because polio is a child's illness, they kept every other kid away from me. I remember being pinned to this bed, and longing for friends and company."

Peter Preston Born 1938 Journalist and former editor of The Guardian. He caught polio shortly after his father who died in a couple of days. Preston needed an iron lung to survive and was frequently in hospital for the next 18 months. His limbs were permanently affected as a result.

Judy Collins Born 1939 - As a child, singer-songwriter Judy Collins spent several months in the hospital recovering from bout with polio. Collins later became a representative for UNICEF and has worked to promote polio vaccination programmes.

Itzhak Perlman Born 1945 Virtuoso violinist. He contracted polio at the age of four. Perlman requires braces and crutches to walk, and plays the violin seated.