My great nana Brown (nee Pauline Cairney) was born in Greymouth in 1941. At the age of 10 months old she contracted polio during the poliomyelitis epidemic that swept throughout the world. The virus affected her muscles on her left side of her face causing her mouth to move halfway up the side of her face. Her mother (Emma Cairney) sat with her day and night feeding her condensed milk, and massaging her little face. By doing this she survived and eventually her mouth moved back into place leaving just a slight slant. She was one of the luckier ones as many other children either died or were left paralyzed. I am thankful that nowadays there are vaccines that can stop you from getting polio.
By Mylah Neilson
Karoro School
Year 7
Age 11
Thank you Mylah for sharing your family story, it is extremely important to remember all of the stories in our family history. My uncle also contracted polio when he was 4 years old and he has always had a permanent and very painful limp. We are beyond lucky that we don’t see some of these diseases anymore, which why it is so crucial to have vaccinations.
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