Pioneers, victims recall polio trials

News Service

Fifty years to the hour after the historic announcement that the Salk polio vaccine had proven to be safe and effective, the University will celebrate the declaration at 9:30 a.m. April 12 in Rackham Auditorium.

On that historic day in 1955, Rackham hosted an overflow crowd as Dr. Thomas Francis, Jr., chair of U-M's epidemiology department, dramatically declared that the vaccine was "safe, effective and potent."

Reporters ran from the room to call their editors, church bells rang, and newspapers around the world declared that the defeat of polio was at hand.

In preparation for the contemporary celebration, the University has gathered stories from Polio Pioneers—some of the 1.8 million school children that participated in the historic field trials—and from victims of the disease.

Following are stories from two U-M staff members:

Nancy Wells
Clinical Coordinator, UMH Neurosurgery Clinic

"It was August, 1952—I was 4. My mother was the camp director at an all-girls (grades 3-5) camp in northern Michigan. Mom had decided to take me to camp with her, as it would be easier for Dad to take care of my older brother and sister at home without me.

"The first day and into the second day of camp, I ran a temperature and cried all day. Mom called Dad and told him he had to come and get me, and by the time he got there, I was sicker. He took me to the doctor, and it is strange that with the scare over polio, they did not suspect it and could not decide what was wrong. After a few days, I was hospitalized and it was discovered that I did indeed have polio. I was in and out of a couple of hospitals and then, finally, sent to Mary Free Bed Hospital in Grand Rapids. I was there for six weeks and when I went home, my only residual from the polio was a paralyzed right arm and hand.

"I do not have good memories of my hospitalizations. I was separated from my family and only allowed visits once a week while in Grand Rapids. For a 4-year-old that is very frightening. I remember the iron lungs and how huge and loud they seemed and how small the children were in them. Our beds were in large, open wards with many children in one ward, and I remember the crying at night.

"To this day, I cannot stand the smell of warm, damp wool, which was used during physical therapy. Apple juice, while it doesn't taste bad, brings memories of having to drink it every day, so I don't care for it either. It was a terrifying time for patients, as well as families.

"What a relief when the vaccine came out and with each year, the reported cases of polio diminished. We have much to celebrate now 50 years later and I didn't have to worry about my children, and now grandchildren, ever having to experience this dreaded disease."

Janice La Pointe
Secretary III,
UMH Department of Otolaryngology/Audiology

"I was attending Kemble School in Utica, N.Y. I remember we all went to the gymnasium to get our shots. Our parents must have had to sign a permission slip. I am sure we were told we were making an important contribution, but at that age I doubt we realized just how big it was.

"About six months later, those of us who got the real shot were called up to the front of the room and given our Polio Pioneer pins and a certificate documenting what we had been a part of. I've kept my pin in my jewelry box, and always remembered I was a Polio Pioneer, but I don't think it hit home until 30 years later when we moved to New Hampshire. We learned that the reason our minister walked with brace crutches was because he had had polio as a child, and I thought how sad [that] he had not been given the shot."

To read more Polio Pioneer stories, go to: http://polio.umich.edu/history/memories.html. For information on the celebration, go to: http://www.polio.umich.edu/.

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