Friday, July 17, 2009

Do You Know Someone Who Had Polio in Washtenaw County?

Reading some old papers about polio in the county. For some reason I never thought of polio striking here. My dad had it in Baltimore in his childhood. "Polio victims rise to 60," notes the December 6, 1950 Ypsilanti Daily Press. "The number of Washtenaw County's polio victims rose to 60 this week when two sisters, Elizabeth and Celia Ledwidge of 5780 Joy Rd., Dexter, were stricken. Elizabeth, 12, is a seventh grader and Celia, 18, is a 1950 graduate of Dexter High School and has been employed in a business office in Ann Arbor." Poor girls!One just 12 years old and the other just starting her career.

"The 18-year-old was stricken by the bulbar type of polio and is in "fair condition, with chest complications," says the paper. Wikipedia notes, "Spinal polio is the most common form, characterized by asymmetric paralysis that most often involves the legs. Bulbar polio leads to weakness of muscles innervated by cranial nerves. Bulbospinal polio is a combination of bulbar and spinal paralysis."

There was also activity at U-M concerning the vaccine which I have yet to fully research. Those were scary times. At the same time in 1950, Ypsilanti was undergoing a strange blood-typing program, involving dog tags, in case of an atom-bomb strike. The idea was to find out everyone's blood type (apparently previously not recorded) so as to have a "walking blood bank" on hand in case of emergency. People were to be issued dog tags with their blood type. Weird and scary bits of local medical history.

If you know someone who suffered from polio in the county, I would love to hear their thoughts here or contact them. Thanks.

2 comments :

Anonymous said...

My mother Marie (Roggenkamp) Patterson had polio around 1953 or 1954. At that point in her life she had five children 10 & under. Her home was at 617 North River Street.
Marie was told that she would not walk again but her husband who was a medic during WWII refused to believe that so he work her legs every day. Mom said he would drag her back in forth in a small up stairs hall way. With prayer, a lot of working with her husband Elzie, Marie did walk and she had me in 1955 and lived until the age of 85. Marie past away one day short of her 86th birthday, on March 31, 2005.

Susan Metler

Kathy said...

I MIGHT ADD TO MY SISTER'S COMMENT HERE'SUSAN METLER' NOT ONLY DID OUR MOTHER HAVE POLIO BUT MY OLDER BROTHER MICHEAL HAD IT .I CAN REEMEBER ALL OF US GOING TO GET POLIO SHOTS AT DR.SCOVILLE'S OFFICE. I WILL NEVER FORGET THE DAY THEY CAME TO TAKE MY MOTHER TO THE HOSPITAL.THE MEN TOOK A WOODEN CHAIR UPSTAIRS TO MY MOTHER'S ROOM , THEY SAT HER ON IT AND CARRIED HER DOWNSTAIRS AND OUT. I WAS ABOUT 6 YRS. OLD AND WAS SO AFRAID I WOULD NEVER SEE HER AGAIN. DAD TOOK US CHILDREN OVER TO ANN ARBOR WHERE SHE WAS IN THE HOSPITAL. SHE CAME TO THE WINDOW TO WAVE AT US SO WE WOULD KNOW SHE WAS ALRIGHT. LATER ON I REMEMBER HER SAYING HOW THE NURSE BRUSHED HER HAIR AND PUT A RIBBON IN IT SO SHE WOULD LOOK PRETTY FOR US. THE LORD BLESSED OUR FAMILY TO HAVE MY MOTHER AND BROTHER WELL AND HOME. THAN BLESSED US WITH SUSAN.