This photo is described as "the love of a husband." The wife is in an iron lung (adorned with a rose) due to polio - how awful was polio and how we treated it?!
Today we have vaccinations so no one will get Polio, except for the ppl who think vaccinations cause Autism. I have 3 non verbal Autistic Grandchildren, nothing in the world to do with Autism. My son held off every child from getting vaccinated until they started school, they still grew to Autistic. PLEASE vaccinate.
There are MILLIONS of nitwits who think they know better. The same arrogant know-it-alls who are ruining this country. Poetic justice will be when their own children contract the very diseases that were supposed to have been wiped out. I hope it happens.
Please vaccinate your children. I am old enough to remember the sadness of families and the fright that I would contact polio. One of my children asked me, when they were 10, "what is polio"? I was so happy to realize that they did not have to grow up with the fear.
I can't imagine that! :( my grandmother had polio when she was about ten years old... she survived (obviously lol) but had to use crutches and wheelchair for life. She was one of the strongest women I've ever known and she passed away from post polio syndrome 20 years after they expected her to pass. Polio is an awful awful thing. I miss my grandma....
But, but, but vaccines are poison... SMH! Get your children vaccinated or be considered a Public Health Hazard and keep your unvaccinated little heathens at home.
My best friend contracted polio=you cannot imagine the fear during that time. No one of us met except at school. No drinking fountains or public pools or movie theaters. It was quite awful:((
I remember the pictures and news clips about the iron lungs. Polio was a dreaded disease when I was a child. Thank goodness for Jonas Salk and the vaccine he created. And for the subsequent oral vaccine by Dr. Sabin. I remember lining up at school to get the first vaccination and the subsequent boosters.
There was a Gentle girl who lived in Rockwood who lived in an iron lung. On warm days she was rolled out on their front porch. If you drove by the house, you could see her. It was amazing.
Post polio syndrome was devastating to watch progress on someone you love more than the world. I believe in vaccinations 100 percent because I don't like to think she and so many others suffered just so we can throw away the very thing that keeps us safe. The anti vacation movement disgusts me.
My brother-in-law lived in a clean home and still contracted it. If kids were at school and played with other kids who were infectious, one could contract it there, too.
My brother-in-law contracted it in England in the 50's. He had been set to be a professional cricket player. Hospitalized for 1 year. Post polio syndrome hit him about 15 years ago. He doesn't have to sleep in an iron lung- they stopped manufacturing these a couple of years ago- but he does sleep with a breathing machine that forces air into his lungs at night.
What a foolish & condescending way to describe the method of transmission of Polio. Polio struck all portions of the population in the USA during it's heyday. It was not about "poor living conditions". The transmission is not only fecal-oral contact but through mucosa. Any of that can be passed through the water system. Yes, treat the water, but that doesn't mean this removed the threat of polio ... only the vaccine removed the threat!
World Health has located the virus in Rio de Janiero water Imminuze and save lives. Taliban is killing workers doing this in Pakistan how abysmally ignorant they are.
When I was a child there was always te fear of a child having polio. The disease was responsible for the death of so many people. Thank God there are vaccines to prevent it. Imagine your child living its life in an iron lung so it could breathe. VACCINATE.
Those were real lifesavers, but such a brutal way to have to live! My older sister had polio, but thankfully, a very mild case & did not require this treatment. I did care for a patient in an iron lung in the early 70's. She was 16 yrs old (don't remember the exact diagnosis), she needed to be put on a ventilator but adamantly refused when she learned she wouldn't be able to talk. Someone at the hospital remember that they had an iron lung in an old storage area & brought it up to ICU. She was in it for several months, probably took longer to recover than if she's been on a ventilator, but she never regretted refusing the ventilator. Her biggest concern was having someone shave her legs periodically!
Yes. Polio is an AWFUL. destructive disease and now, some of these idiotic people who don't want their children to have vaccinations it, and other preventable childhood diseases are coming back! I just don't understand people, I guess!
Mark - Is that how President Roosevelt got polio??! Did you live through that time? - I did! I knew kids from scrupulously clean homes who got polio. We even had running water, soap & flush toilets "back then". What a ridiculous & stupid thing to say!
If all you anti-vax people had to live had to live through the threat of all the diseases we lived (and died) through as children you'd be begging "someone" to DO "something"!!
Wow! How technology and medicine progressed so quickly since then. I give anyone who were in chronic pain (or any ailment) and didn't have meds or any sort of proper treatment so much credit!
It has been scientifically proven that vaccinations do not cause autism. However, even tho it is far away, polio is not extinct in the world. Please vaccinate. As a polio survivor, I know it is not worth the slightest risk.
Mr. Mark Dennis, FDR had polio and I doubt he lived in filth. So did I at age 10 months, and there was never a cleaner person than my mom. In fact, the doctor wondered if she kept me too clean and because of it I had no resistance. It left me pretty well paralyzed from the waist down. Who knows? They do not know how polio is spread. Only 2 in our town got it ,and the families did not have any friends in common.
I remember a very poor family used to bring their son to the old Tishomingo County Hospital (now Iuka Hospital), in an iron lung in the back of a pickup. They wouldn't call an ambulance. I was a new nurse back then. Sad part was that the patient was the one who made the important family decisions, but a tremendous positive spirit!
Patrick, your Uncle Gayle had polio right after he graduated from high school. That was about 1955. A man in our church died from polio at the same time. Scary times!
I remember these as well. I agree that all of you who don't vaccinate your kids put them and others at risk. Polio is again on the rise in places like India, Africa, and parts of Eastern Europe.
My sister died of polio. She was never put into an iron lung; perhaps because it was very hard to diagnose back then? Nance, do you know anything else about this?
My mom got Polio afew months after my younger sister was born back in 1960...she had terrible stories to tell, she never said how long she had to stay in "the lung" but they couldn't fit it thru the door of the room so she had to stay in the hallway.
So sad. I remember when I was a very young Lil girl and moma took me to see me cousin.the room was lined with these iron lungs. Broke my heart. I'm suprised I was allowed to go there..I remember receiving polio vac.in a sugar cube.
I knew someone who spent years in one of those "iron lungs". It did save her life, but what a sad, difficult time! Later, a tracheotomy was done, and some other surgeries to her spine and she was able to walk again.
Mr. Dennis, polio is a virus. It doesn't "spring up" from these conditions. Vaccination is the best and most powerful tool, though certainly better sanitation helps.
Mark Dennis . . . . you are pathetic. One of my classmate's sister died from polio and I have a cousin that still wears braces on her legs because of it. Go crawl back under your rock, you pathetic loser.
We were hit with it in our family in 1956. My youngest brother was hospitalized for about 6 weeks. We were inoculated with polio vaccine and quart teemed from school, I was in about 4-5 grade, I was also in a cast for a broken arm when he came home from Sharon General Hospital.
The doctors said to make him ride a tricycle that was too big for him so he would stretch, no crippling effects for him. His roommate was a different story, his mom kept taking off the ice packs and the heating blankets and sat and cried because Jerry was in pain, Jerry is now 63 and still walks with Canadian Canes. We were given the Salk Vaccine the next summer and we have all survived without any physical defects, we were extremely lucky. Many kids in our school were cripples in their legs and arms. My mom was a nurse and she noticed any changes in our strength and took us to the doctor right away. Ray was the youngest and he was the only one that had to be in the iron lung, 4 of the longest weeks in his three year old life!
I had friends who had polio, some handicapped as a result. Two died. The initial polio and the disability it caused were bad enough. Many suffer Post-Polio Syndrome which, for someone in their 60s and 70s, already dragging their bodies around on crutches, is an affliction too cruel to contemplate. I was very glad that I was just of the age to benefit from the vaccine.
And what was so awful about the way we treated polio? People were put in iron lungs so that they could breathe, which is generally considered to be a good thing. There was no other kind of respirator in those days. And just because she is in an iron lung in this picture doesn't mean she had to spend the rest of her life like that. I only had to be in one for about a month.
I bet most people don't remember polio. I was in a test group of kids who took the vaccine…my parents were so afraid I'd be affected. Please immunize your kids.
There was a man who contracted polio as a teen and he was bound to a wheelchair. It inspired him to become a doctor who specializes in infectious disease.
Yes, vaccinations can keep people from getting polio. If people quit getting vaccinated, it won't be long before polio will be striking kids in America.
Do you remember the film, "Phone Call from a Stranger" (1952), directed by Jean Negulesco, starring Gary Merrill? There was a scene with a woman(Betty Davis) in an iron lung.
It wasn't treated "awful". It was treated the only way we knew how. Modern life is good thanks to vaccinations of all kinds. Thank God every day that we have these miraculous preventatives.
Amazed at how soon we have forgotten about polio. I was born in 1956. I still remember how relieved my mom was when I took that sugar cube. I also remember attending church with a man who was a schoolmate of my mom and had contracted polio in high school. I know my parents were not allowed to go to the public swimming pool as children out of fear of polio by their parents. Their parents were not able to send them to live with relatives in the country during summer break as so many parents did. The current crop of anti-vaccinate parents just chap my butt with their ignorance. Whooping cough epidemic in California in 2014 who would have thought it possible.
My natural Mother lived many of the years of her life in one of these. She put me up for adoption at 5 days old because she knew she could not take care of a baby. I did not know who she was until after she had passed away.
My late grandpa had polio and had a brace on his leg. He drove a car and worked and had a stroke. Thank goodness for vaccinations. Yes iron lungs were bad but that was the only cure back in those days.
Breathing was a very good thing. I vividly remember being so scare for you and saying prayers for you. I also remember Mama and Grandma crying. They were desperately scared for all three of us girls. Thank you Dr. Salk.
I nursed peole like this at Prince henry Hospital - Sydney. durIng the very early stage of Training. Tragic was not the word. I agree PLEASE VACCINATE YOUR CHILDREN.
Thank God for the vaccine! My Dad had polio when he was just a teenager. Thanks to the vaccine, he didn't have to worry about his children going through the same hell he did.
Unfortunately, many were never able to escape the iron lung or its successor that made it possible to leave the iron lung, but not breathe on their own. I remember going to Galveston & passing Texas Crippled Children's Hospital. They would have all these iron lungs out on the balconies so the kids could get some fresh air. Those that didn't need the lung often had "post-polio syndrome" in their later years. The muscles that had taken over for the damaged ones gave out & people then had problems again.
Vaccinate for all diseases.....I remember the scare....measles , chicken pox.and the mumps were bad.....I had them and almost died of whooping cough......
My mom got polio about 3-4gr. She was crippled on her whole right side. You noticed mostly in her hand &leg & foot. Never deterred my mom. She did all types of work. God Bless her soul.
This is what I grew up seeing. Please inoculate yourselves and children! These childhood diseases killed! And polio made a recurrence with many survivors later in life.
My mum had polio when she was younger (before I was born), and I remember her telling us she had to have her lung collapsed as part of the treatment ..she had chest and side pains and went to doctor for treatment and ended up staying in hospital - including iron lung treatment - for just over two years .... .... but luckily she survived, got married, had kids, and lived to 70 odd years ... Memories are forever..
My late mother was a survivor of Polio and the treatment by others in the street everyday right up till 2 years ago when she passed from cancer people avoided her because of the physical affects it left behind young girl I would always kiss her arm and tell her she was beautiful. I knew it affected her deeply.
My very first nursing job was at our municipal hospital back home. I worked on the polio floor and we had 4 patients who still slept in iron lungs during the night. They were able to use portable respirators during the day, but were dependent on the lungs during the night. This was 1979, and one of them had developed the disease when he was 3. He had lived his entire life in the hospital. If that does not make people realize vaccinations are important, I don't know what would.
I remember my mother taking me and my brother to a school building were they were giving Polio preventive medicine on a sugar cube 65 -70 years ago. I had an uncle and a school mate who had Polio and it left them with a crippled leg. Please make sure your children get their shots or Polio could come back again.
so true..just make sure your vaccine is not a live one as we have a ton of left over people that have post polio syndrome from that particular vaccine..go the dead virus and get protected...what a lovely story
I went with my mom to visit a lady in an iron lung in the hospital who was the mother of one of my friends. I will never forget that experience. I was horrified that would happen to me! Please do not allow polio to become part of our world again!
It breaks my heart when I hear parents say they don't want to vaccinate their children for anything! I grew up with Carrie Tingley Hospital as a place we went to sing to the "inmates"! My husband was one of those "inmates" for a year, I found this out after dating him! He is a lesson to all who see him doing things he shouldn't be able to do! Thank God for those iron lungs or more would have died not being able to breathe!
Many did not even make it to an iron lung. We may well see this again with so many parents opting out of vaccines for their kids. Polio is reocurring in Europe.
I am 53 & still remember going to school with children wearing leg braces from polio.It was quite common then & it's not so long ago really. Vaccinate your children !
when I was 8 I got polio, and I heard them talking to my Mom & Dad about this. It scared me so bad. But it never happened. So glad with Gods mercy I was fine, no after affects, except a curvature on my tail bone. God is good.
I heard they still have a few left who are in them. We have a lady at church who had polio when she was young and recovered completely. She married, had kids, and then suddenly it came back and she's in a wheel chair and unable to walk. I guess it's not that unusual.
When I was in primary school I had a teacher who was born healthy but developed this disease as a teenager, I feel sorry for those who weren't so lucky
and is why schoolchildren were inoculated against polio, and smallpox. Folks who do not 'believe' in vaccines, do you really want to go back to this? Without the Iron Lung these loved ones would have died. Some spent the rest of their lives inside it. Please, Vaccinate!
I had polio in 1950 at age 5. I remember when I left the hospital the nurse carried me into ward with iron lungs all around in a large room. She was showing me how lucky I was because I only had a mild case. I'm almost 69 years old and I can remember that very vividly. I can't imagine a life inside an iron lung.
This brings back such memories. I'm currently 69 and remember being in one of these as a young child. I just woke up one morning and couldn't move my legs. We've come a long way in medicine today but the vaccines are more important than ever.
My mother had polio as a child and her brothers would pull her to school in a little wagon. It was a mile to school one way. In her later adult yrs. she could walk brief periods of time but she would tire easily and had to sit at an angle or her hip bone would hurt.
Emery Delos Wiltse of Logandale, Clark County, Nevada United States was born on August 8, 1915 in Wichita, Sedgwick County, KS to Emery Mason Wiltse and Christine Ludwick Wiltse. He had siblings Donald Wiltse, Hazel Wiltse, and Lois Beth Wiltse. He married Doreen Marie (Bergan) Wiltse, and had children Kathleen Jeanette (Wiltse) Lewis Goldsberry and Sue De (Wiltse) Saxon Price. Emery Wiltse died at age 76 years old on January 26, 1992 in Las Vegas, Clark County, NV, and was buried in Logandale.
Who doesn't love a man (or woman) in uniform? Almost everybody has worn a uniform sometime in their life - these are the vintage versions of those uniforms.
Uniforms are worn by many kinds of people - children and adults - in all kinds of organizations. Police, firefighters, nurses, paramedics, the military, Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts, sports teams, prisone...
Did you know medics, doctors and nurses used to prescribe narcotics as treatment?
Radium water, cough syrup made of alcohol, marijuana, and morphine, cocaine toothache drops for children, snake oil - medicine has changed quite a bit in the past 100 years or so, as has the way that ...
My maiden name was Vaughan. I married Brian Sutton and I'm currently married to Dana Lamb. My mother's maiden name was Dorothy Trump. My father's name was Charles Vaughan and he was born in Lexington, Ky. My mother is from Uniontown, Pa.