Polio survivors unite as disease takes its toll

Article from the Irish Independent 27th August 2010

Photo of Helen Jordan and Marie Cowhey
Helen Jordan, right with her carer and sister, Marie Cowhey, from Limerick, at the Launch of a polio survivors' group.

Eilish O’Regan
Health Correspondent

Grandmother Helen Jordan was struck by polio nearly 70 years ago. Now she is among hundreds of survivors who are battling with the disease all over again.

Helen (71) joined other survivors yesterday in Dublin to highlight the work of the Post Polio Support Group that is providing a lifeline for many people who believed they were over the worst- only to find their condition deteriorating again.

The mother of five, who never let the condition prove an obstacle to living a full life, said she was now finding her feet were getting weaker and she recently got her first pair or orthopaedic boots.

"They are very comfortable and I am walking much better", she added.

Helen, from Ennis Road in Limerick, was just 18 months old when she was diagnosed with the disease, which parents in the 1940s feared as much as TB, the other potential killer of that time.

It was not until the 1960s, when a vaccine became available, that polio was virtually eliminated here- but it left thousands with varying levels of disability.

Helen spent months in hospital in Dublin as a child and had to wear callipers as well as undergo several operations.

"We didn’t complain and just got on with life. Polio was forgotten about but when I think back now we went through a lot."

I remember being just three years old when a nurse came to the door and I was taken to hospital in Dublin for months. My mother would rely on a letter from the hospital every month. "I look at my grandchildren now and see how difficult it must have been for my parents", she added.

Helen was joined by another survivor, Margaret Black from Dundalk, who has been in a wheelchair since she was 11 years old because of polio.

She contracted the disease in the 1960s before the arrival of the vaccine and has maintained her independence over the years thanks to her identical twin Maureen, who helps her with some of her daily tasks.

The support group means that, like Helen, she can regularly meet up with others who have the disease, swap advice and enjoy the social outing.

Struggled

Chief executive Eamonn Farrell said its "New Horizons Plan 2015" document emphasised involving its 850 members more in helping each other, having lost two staff recently due to reduced funding.

"They may have struggled all their lives and are very proud people. But we are delighted so many want to support each other. Those who are less affected can help people with more disability", he said.

He estimates that around 4,000 polio survivors are in Ireland but many may be trying to pluck up courage to make contact with the organisation.

It campaigned to get a medical card for survivors at 55 years but this was turned down. Many are reliant on the health service for wheelchairs, callipers and mobile scooters.

*Note; The text is taken from an article in the Independent newspaper.

Eilish O’Regan, ‘Polio survivors unite as disease takes its toll’, in The Irish Independent, 27 August 2010, p. 3