Polio survivor: “We are the forgotten people”

From the Fall issue of 7Bends of the Shenandoah magazine…

One of the youngest living survivors of polio is Garland Himelright, now 59. Born on February 3, 1950, as an infant, Garland’s grandparents noticed that he wasn’t moving around like he should. Shortly after, in October 1950, he was diagnosed with polio at the Crippled Childrens Hospital in Wasshington D.C.

A lifelong resident of the Strasburg area, Garland, talks with 7Bends from his motorized wheelchair – about polio, how it has affected his life, and what he’s learned on his journey.

What it was like as a child with polio?

After being diagnosed and stabilized in D.C., they sent me to the Crippled Childrens Hospital in Richmond where I stayed until I was 15. There were about 100 other children there, some with polio, others with club feet, cleft palate, and also burn victims. I was put on the Iron Lung, and had to stay in the machine almost all the time during the day until I was five years old. I had to have over twenty operations. They’d do exercises to strengthen my muscles, and eventually I learned to walk, with the assistance of special shoes and braces.

I remember that it felt like a prison there. We were totally controlled in every way “for our safety.” I am grateful for the hospital. It was free, but there were periods of nine months at a time when I didn’t get to go outside at all, and we were punished for not cleaning our plates. It was terrible. I do remember, though, the visits by Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, the Lone Ranger and Sky King. They all came and performed for us and contributed money to the Hospital. The March of Dimes and private donations kept the Hospital funded.

Finally, at 15, they wanted me to have another operation, and I said, “It’s over. I’m through with this.”

How did polio affect growing up, and your interaction with others?

I was away from my family for months at a time, and the few months I did get to come home to Strasburg, I was frustrated because I had school classes at the Hospital, and was in public school here, so I never could get caught up. I felt like a bouncing ball. Kids would made fun of me, and often their parents wouldn’t let them play with me because they feared I was contagious. It was like the AIDS thing today.

I developed a lot of anger. I was ready to fight anyone, and always felt I had to prove that I could do anything that anyone else could do. If I could trip them, and get them down on my level, on the ground, I had them in my terrirory. I built up a wall around myself. I just figured: there is nothing you can do to hurt me. Just, don’t get any closer.

At 15, I went to the state-funded Woodsrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center in Fisherville to learn a trade. There were about 800 other kids there; it was like a small city. I learned woodworking and finishing to support myself. We’d also work with leather and make pocketbooks and wallets, and Plaster of Paris angels.

(Starting at only $1.00 an hour in 1969, Garland went on to work at Fryes Furniture in Strasburg for nine years, rising up to Managennbt level, and then worked at Rockingham Poultry (now George’s) in Edinburg for 9 years. He currently is on Disability and is heavily involved in volunteer work for the Moose, and the Boy Scouts of America. He has three grandchildren, the youngest,less than a month old.)

You’re one of the leaders of Strasburg Boy Scout Troop #5. Tell us about how and why you got involved.

I met my wife, Lanna, at a carnival in Strasburg in September 1971, and we were married on December 16, 1971 in Hagerstown. We’ve been married 38 years. We had two sons, Garland Jr., and Jimmy. When my sons wanted to join the scouts 29 years ago, I said: “Okay, but there’s no dropping out. I can’t stand quitters.” Ever since then, I’ve been involved, first in Edinburg, and now in Strasburg. We’re the oldest troop in the Shenandoah Area Council.

Scouts have helped me to get out of my shell. The experience has taught me to trust people again, and has given be a way to help kids, and break down the walls I had erected between myself and others. I’ve gotten to really know the boys and the other leaders, and allowed people into my circle. I strongly believe in the Twelve Points of the Ssout Law, and you can’t have a chip on your shoulder if you live those principles. I learn as much or more from the boys as they learn from me. There’s always room to grow.

There is not a lot I haven’t done, including having the boys accept me into the Order of the Arrow – Visual Airmen, in 2003. That’s something I’m proud of most. When you stop trying to improve yourself, you’re done.

What message would you like to share with everyone?

At about 12, I decided that I was not going to let polio keep me from living my life. Polio has not slowed me down. When a person wants to do something, they just do it. But, when you’re handicapped, especially from birth, you have to figure out how to do something. You have to think before you act.

Like if you go into a convenience store and buy some hot coffee… How are you going to get it back to your car? Well, one way is to fill a 16-once cup half the way up, and then it won’t burn you. We can still do things. We just have to come up with a solution to the problem first.

I also want people to know that we are still here, those of us who have polio, and we’re still suffering. We are the forgotten people. We have not fallen off of the face of the Earth. Disability only covers a small part of our medical expenses. Why did the U.S. stop researching a cure when the polio vaccine came out? If they would have continued, it would have helped us, but it also may have led to a cure for MS, Cerebral Palsy, and other diseases.

I always say, “There aren’t any handicapped people, only handicapped minds.”

*****

Polio: what, when and where

Polio, short for poliomyelitis, is a disease that can damage the nervous system and cause paralysis. Currently, the greatest risk is in the Indian subcontinent and, to a lesser degree, in West and Central Africa. Efforts like Rotary International’s “PolioPlus” initiative are still in place today, working to eradicate polio off the face of the Earth.

If you were the parent of an American child in the 1940s and early 1950s, there was cause for worry. The initial signs of polio resembled the flu. More than 400,000 American children in those years did get polio, and many of them survived the epidemic.

Polio peaked in 1952 when there were more than 21,000 reported cases. The number of cases decreased dramatically following introduction of the Salk inactivated polio vaccine (IPV).

Today, polio survivors are one of the largest disabled groups in the world. The World Health Organization estimates that there are 10 to 20 million polio survivors worldwide, and about 254,000 persons living in the United States who are paralyzed due to contracting polio. The polio virus blocks the sending of messages to various parts of the body. Many survivors face health problems, primarily affecting their lungs, heart, and limbs.

Many peopel are unaware that recently, polio survivors have been faced with Post-polio Syndrome (or PPS). It affects polio survivors years after recovery from their initial acute attack of the virus. PPS is characterized by new weakening in muscles that were previously affected by the polio infection, and in muscles that supposedly were  not affected. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, more than 440,000 polio survivors in the U.S. may be at risk. PPS is rarely life-threatening, however, left untreated, it can result in respiratory probelms and aspiration pneumonia. Patients diagnosed with PPS sometimes are concerned that they are having polio again and are contagious to others. Studies have shown that this is not the case.

Tags: boy scouts, handicapped mind, polio, PolioPlus, post-polio syndrome, Rotary