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Speaker 1: Shop Talk number forty nine. I am not Bill Courtney. Guys,

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Speaker 1: this is Alex Cortez. I failed and my duties as

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Speaker 1: a producer to get enough shop Talks from Bill. He

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Speaker 1: has been out of town for three weeks and we

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Speaker 1: did not get enough of them, so you were stuck

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Speaker 1: with me. Good luck, y'all. But thankfully this week for

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Speaker 1: shop Talk, we actually have a great story from a

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Speaker 1: nationally syndicated columnist named Tom Purcell who sent a story

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Speaker 1: into us, and it's about a big seventieth anniversary milestone

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Speaker 1: in the country's history that you're about to hear about.

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Speaker 1: Right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors, and

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Speaker 1: we now hear from nationally syndicated columnist Tom Purcell.

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Speaker 2: She came home with a high temperature, feeling very ill.

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Speaker 2: The next morning, her legs gave up when she tried

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Speaker 2: to get out of bed. By the evening, she was

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Speaker 2: so weak she could barely move. It was nineteen fifty

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Speaker 2: one when polio struck her. She was twelve years old,

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Speaker 2: just starting the eighth grade. The nation was in a panic. Then.

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Speaker 2: The ambulance driver wouldn't take her to the hospital, fearing

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Speaker 2: that other patients might become infected. Her uncle had a car, though,

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Speaker 2: despite unknown risks to his own family, he drove her

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Speaker 2: to the hospital. Her father told her not to worry,

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Speaker 2: to placate her. He said she had a new virus

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Speaker 2: called virus X. She found it odd then that she

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Speaker 2: was placed in the polio ward with other children. She

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Speaker 2: told the nurse she didn't have polio, she had virus X,

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Speaker 2: just like her father told her. The nurse nodded knowingly,

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Speaker 2: but said there was a possibility it was polio. Now

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Speaker 2: the girl was really worried, worried about her family. She

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Speaker 2: wrote her parents a letter. She hinted that she might

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Speaker 2: have polio, but that she was going to be okay.

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Speaker 2: Her father cried out loud when he read it. The

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Speaker 2: county Health department quarantined her family for two weeks, posting

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Speaker 2: a notice on the family's front door. Only her father

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Speaker 2: could come and go for work. Within fifteen days, polio

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Speaker 2: had ravaged her body, partially paralyzing her limbs and weakening

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Speaker 2: her neck. She was moved to the D. T. Watson

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Speaker 2: Home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to begin her long and painful rehabilitation.

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Speaker 2: A year later, she returned home with a full back brace,

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Speaker 2: leg braces and crutches. The principal recommended she not returned

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Speaker 2: to school, fearing for her safety, but her father insisted

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Speaker 2: she be treated like anyone else, and back to school

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Speaker 2: she went. Friends took turns driving her to school, classmates

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Speaker 2: carried her books. The school adjusted her schedule so she

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Speaker 2: only had to navigate the stairs once each day. Her

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Speaker 2: rehab continued for two years, though she would always need crutches.

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Speaker 2: The braces eventually came off. Determined to be independent, she

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Speaker 2: decided to walk to school one day, over a mile

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Speaker 2: up a steep Pittsburgh hill. Soon she walked every day,

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Speaker 2: beautiful and lively. She made many friends. Her senior year,

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Speaker 2: her classmates voted her Queen of Carrick High School for

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Speaker 2: a spring social event. Eventually, she married, had four children,

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Speaker 2: and now has eight grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Now

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Speaker 2: eighty six, she has lived a wonderful life with her

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Speaker 2: beloved husband, who she lost recently after sixty three years

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Speaker 2: of marriage. This remarkable person is my aunt Cecilia, my

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Speaker 2: mother's sister. While at the DT Watson Home, she bravely

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Speaker 2: volunteered for doctor Salt's early trials, aiding the advancement of

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Speaker 2: polio research recognition of her selflessness. She would later receive

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Speaker 2: the Povirello Medal from the College of Steubenville. Back in

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Speaker 2: the nineteen fifties, fear and doubt about polio were rampant,

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Speaker 2: but the nation didn't dwell on problems. We did what

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Speaker 2: Americans always do. We focused on solutions. The March of

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Speaker 2: Dimes mobilized millions to raise money so that doctor Sulk

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Speaker 2: and other researchers could carry on well. Seventy years ago,

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Speaker 2: on April twelve, nineteen fifty five, the vaccine was declared

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Speaker 2: safe and effective. It's easy to see the clarity of

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Speaker 2: past successes, but harder to find it in today's challenges.

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Speaker 2: The country appears divided, with many voices focusing on what

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Speaker 2: is wrong, But we know the best way forward is

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Speaker 2: to unite and focus on what we can make right,

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Speaker 2: just as my ane Cecilia did.

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Speaker 1: And thank you so much, Tom for a beautiful story

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Speaker 1: about your aunt. As you guys just heard. On April twelve,

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Speaker 1: nineteen fifty five, was when the first polio vaccine was

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Speaker 1: licensed and was rolled out massively across the country. So

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Speaker 1: the seventieth anniversary was just a few days ago, and guys.

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Speaker 1: You know, I'm only thirty six. I do not have

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Speaker 1: much familiarity with polio, and I'm guessing that's true for

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Speaker 1: a lot of folks my age and younger, and probably

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Speaker 1: even many folks of every age is across the country.

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Speaker 1: So I decided to do a little bit more research

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Speaker 1: for this shop talk, and I was curious what the

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Speaker 1: peak was like with polio in the country, and it

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Speaker 1: was in nineteen fifty two, with more than twenty one

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Speaker 1: thousand paralytic cases across the country. And as you heard

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Speaker 1: Tom mentioned too, I mean, people were just so afraid

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Speaker 1: of getting this virus from other people that they were

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Speaker 1: crossing the street to avoid people you know, had polio,

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Speaker 1: or you know, the ambulance wouldn't even pick his ann up.

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Speaker 1: So this vaccine was a huge deal to help eradicate

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Speaker 1: that and to the point where it's really not an

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Speaker 1: issue in the US anymore. A couple of other things

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Speaker 1: that we may be a little bit familiar with, but

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Speaker 1: I'd love to dive deeper into, is Fdr. Many people

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Speaker 1: know had polio, and FDR was also the founder of

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Speaker 1: March of Dimes and he actually became the face on

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Speaker 1: the dime in nineteen forty six, and March of Dimes

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Speaker 1: grew to the point that they had thirty one hundred

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Speaker 1: chapters of it across the country. This grassroots movement, their

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Speaker 1: own army of normal folks who raised money, and their

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Speaker 1: grassroots funding went to a ton of different researchers out there,

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Speaker 1: including this young physician named doctor Jonas Soak, and I

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Speaker 1: found this next part fascinating. After he developed the vaccine,

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Speaker 1: it was then tested in a ginormous field trial in

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Speaker 1: nineteen fifty four that involved one point eight million school

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Speaker 1: children who became known as the Polio Pioneers. That's its

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Speaker 1: own army and normal folks right there, guys. I mean,

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Speaker 1: that is a lot of bravery for these kids and

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Speaker 1: their parents to have this their kids tested by this

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Speaker 1: then unknown thing and something that we've all been the

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Speaker 1: beneficiaries of. And this vaccine has been so effective that

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Speaker 1: the last case of wild poliovirus in the US was

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Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy nine. Unfortunately, it has plagued more of

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Speaker 1: the world for a longer period of time. And I

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Speaker 1: found this really cool that Rotary International has been a

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Speaker 1: big part in helping reduce it. Rodari has been working

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Speaker 1: to eradicate polio for more than thirty five years as

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Speaker 1: a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, we

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Speaker 1: reduced polio cases by ninety nine point nine percent since

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Speaker 1: our first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in

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Speaker 1: nineteen seventy nine, Rotary members have contributed more than two

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Speaker 1: point one billion dollars in countless volunteer hours to protect

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Speaker 1: nearly three billion children in one hundred and twenty two

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Speaker 1: countries from this paralyzing disease, and Rotary's advocacy efforts have

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Speaker 1: also encouraged governments to contribute more than ten billion dollars

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Speaker 1: to the effort. Today, polio remains endemic only in Afghanistan

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Speaker 1: and Pakistan, but it's crucial to continue working to keep

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Speaker 1: other countries polio free. If all eradication efforts stop today,

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Speaker 1: within ten years, polio could paralyze as many as two

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Speaker 1: hundred thousand children each year. And of course, it comes

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Speaker 1: back to an army of normal folks on so many levels,

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Speaker 1: those who got involved with the March of Dimes, those

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Speaker 1: who are the polio pioneers, and all the Rotary members

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Speaker 1: Rotary Club members across the country who've been involved in

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Speaker 1: eradicating it worldwide. All right, guys, Shop Talk number forty

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Speaker 1: nine the seventieth anniversary of the polio vaccine thanks to

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Speaker 1: our friend Tom Purcell. You could check out his work

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Speaker 1: at Tom Purcell dot com or email him at Tom

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Speaker 1: at tom Purcell dot com. And as always, if you

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Speaker 1: have ideas on shop Talks, email us at Army at

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Speaker 1: normalfolks dot us or Bill at normalfolks dot us. I

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Speaker 1: hope you will subscribe to the podcast, rate and review it,

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Speaker 1: share it with friends on social, Go to normalfolks dot

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Speaker 1: us and join the Army. Consider becoming a premium member

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Speaker 1: any and all of these things that will help us

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Speaker 1: grow an army of normal folks. I'm Alex Cortez. Until

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Speaker 1: next time, do what you can