If I could go back in time, I would go back to 1944. Just thirty minutes away from my home in Taylorsville, NC, seventy-two years ago, Hickory, NC marked the largest polio outbreak in the United States. This tragic uprising brought the town of Hickory closer than it has ever been. Hickory responded by turning a local camp into an extensive emergency hospital almost overnight. The first patients were admitted within 54 hours, the triumph that became known as “The Miracle of Hickory.” Patients from all over North Carolina and some neighboring states came to the Hickory hospital. Doctors and nurses flocked in by the dozens to save the lives of these children. Hundreds of patients were treated and released, with only 12 deaths, the country’s
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Most years saw “summer outbreaks” that would pretty much stop with the cold weather. The victims were mainly children, but not always. Polio is an infectious viral disease that enters through the mouth or nose, then navigates to the spinal cord. There it attacks nerves that control muscle activity, causing temporary or permanent paralysis. Usually polio targets the leg, arm, stomach and back muscles. But if it paralyzes chest muscles needed for breathing, it can be fatal. At this time there was no cure for polio, but most people did recover with at least a partial return of mobility. I chose this time period and region because this miraculous showmanship of benevolence happened in my backyard. Furthermore my great aunt was diagnosed with polio at the age of 14. She used to keep me alot when I was little. I used to always wonder why she had a limp and couldn't come outside and entertain me. Then one day I asked her. She told me when she was 14 the doctor told her she has polio and may not be able to walk anymore. But miraculously she only suffered a mere limp. She then elaborated on how the kids used to make fun of her for walking with a limp and having to use braces most of her
Most years saw “summer outbreaks” that would pretty much stop with the cold weather. The victims were mainly children, but not always. Polio is an infectious viral disease that enters through the mouth or nose, then navigates to the spinal cord. There it attacks nerves that control muscle activity, causing temporary or permanent paralysis. Usually polio targets the leg, arm, stomach and back muscles. But if it paralyzes chest muscles needed for breathing, it can be fatal. At this time there was no cure for polio, but most people did recover with at least a partial return of mobility. I chose this time period and region because this miraculous showmanship of benevolence happened in my backyard. Furthermore my great aunt was diagnosed with polio at the age of 14. She used to keep me alot when I was little. I used to always wonder why she had a limp and couldn't come outside and entertain me. Then one day I asked her. She told me when she was 14 the doctor told her she has polio and may not be able to walk anymore. But miraculously she only suffered a mere limp. She then elaborated on how the kids used to make fun of her for walking with a limp and having to use braces most of her