Shop Talk number forty nine. I am not Bill Courtney. Guys, this is Alex Cortez. I failed and my duties as a producer to get enough shop Talks from Bill. He has been out of town for three weeks and we did not get enough of them, so you were stuck with me. Good luck, y'all. But thankfully this week for shop Talk, we actually have a great story from a nationally syndicated columnist named Tom Purcell who sent a story into us, and it's about a big seventieth anniversary milestone in the country's history that you're about to hear about. Right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors, and we now hear from nationally syndicated columnist Tom Purcell.

Shop Talk number forty nine. I am not Bill Courtney. Guys, this is Alex Cortez. I failed and my duties as a producer to get enough shop Talks from Bill. He has been out of town for three weeks and we did not get enough of them, so you were stuck with me. Good luck, y'all. But thankfully this week for shop Talk, we actually have a great story from a nationally syndicated columnist named Tom Purcell who sent a story into us, and it's about a big seventieth anniversary milestone in the country's history that you're about to hear about. Right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors, and we now hear from nationally syndicated columnist Tom Purcell.

She came home with a high temperature, feeling very ill. The next morning, her legs gave up when she tried to get out of bed. By the evening, she was so weak she could barely move. It was nineteen fifty one when polio struck her. She was twelve years old, just starting the eighth grade. The nation was in a panic. Then. The ambulance driver wouldn't take her to the hospital, fearing that other patients might become infected. Her uncle had a car, though, despite unknown risks to his own family, he drove her to the hospital. Her father told her not to worry, to placate her. He said she had a new virus called virus X. She found it odd then that she was placed in the polio ward with other children. She told the nurse she didn't have polio, she had virus X, just like her father told her. The nurse nodded knowingly, but said there was a possibility it was polio. Now the girl was really worried, worried about her family. She wrote her parents a letter. She hinted that she might have polio, but that she was going to be okay. Her father cried out loud when he read it. The county Health department quarantined her family for two weeks, posting a notice on the family's front door. Only her father could come and go for work. Within fifteen days, polio had ravaged her body, partially paralyzing her limbs and weakening her neck. She was moved to the D. T. Watson Home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to begin her long and painful rehabilitation. A year later, she returned home with a full back brace, leg braces and crutches. The principal recommended she not returned to school, fearing for her safety, but her father insisted she be treated like anyone else, and back to school she went. Friends took turns driving her to school, classmates carried her books. The school adjusted her schedule so she only had to navigate the stairs once each day. Her rehab continued for two years, though she would always need crutches. The braces eventually came off. Determined to be independent, she decided to walk to school one day, over a mile up a steep Pittsburgh hill. Soon she walked every day, beautiful and lively. She made many friends. Her senior year, her classmates voted her Queen of Carrick High School for a spring social event. Eventually, she married, had four children, and now has eight grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Now eighty six, she has lived a wonderful life with her beloved husband, who she lost recently after sixty three years of marriage. This remarkable person is my aunt Cecilia, my mother's sister. While at the DT Watson Home, she bravely volunteered for doctor Salt's early trials, aiding the advancement of polio research recognition of her selflessness. She would later receive the Povirello Medal from the College of Steubenville. Back in the nineteen fifties, fear and doubt about polio were rampant, but the nation didn't dwell on problems. We did what Americans always do. We focused on solutions. The March of Dimes mobilized millions to raise money so that doctor Sulk and other researchers could carry on well. Seventy years ago, on April twelve, nineteen fifty five, the vaccine was declared safe and effective. It's easy to see the clarity of past successes, but harder to find it in today's challenges. The country appears divided, with many voices focusing on what is wrong, But we know the best way forward is to unite and focus on what we can make right, just as my ane Cecilia did.

She came home with a high temperature, feeling very ill. The next morning, her legs gave up when she tried to get out of bed. By the evening, she was so weak she could barely move. It was nineteen fifty one when polio struck her. She was twelve years old, just starting the eighth grade. The nation was in a panic. Then. The ambulance driver wouldn't take her to the hospital, fearing that other patients might become infected. Her uncle had a car, though, despite unknown risks to his own family, he drove her to the hospital. Her father told her not to worry, to placate her. He said she had a new virus called virus X. She found it odd then that she was placed in the polio ward with other children. She told the nurse she didn't have polio, she had virus X, just like her father told her. The nurse nodded knowingly, but said there was a possibility it was polio. Now the girl was really worried, worried about her family. She wrote her parents a letter. She hinted that she might have polio, but that she was going to be okay. Her father cried out loud when he read it. The county Health department quarantined her family for two weeks, posting a notice on the family's front door. Only her father could come and go for work. Within fifteen days, polio had ravaged her body, partially paralyzing her limbs and weakening her neck. She was moved to the D. T. Watson Home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to begin her long and painful rehabilitation. A year later, she returned home with a full back brace, leg braces and crutches. The principal recommended she not returned to school, fearing for her safety, but her father insisted she be treated like anyone else, and back to school she went. Friends took turns driving her to school, classmates carried her books. The school adjusted her schedule so she only had to navigate the stairs once each day. Her rehab continued for two years, though she would always need crutches. The braces eventually came off. Determined to be independent, she decided to walk to school one day, over a mile up a steep Pittsburgh hill. Soon she walked every day, beautiful and lively. She made many friends. Her senior year, her classmates voted her Queen of Carrick High School for a spring social event. Eventually, she married, had four children, and now has eight grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Now eighty six, she has lived a wonderful life with her beloved husband, who she lost recently after sixty three years of marriage. This remarkable person is my aunt Cecilia, my mother's sister. While at the DT Watson Home, she bravely volunteered for doctor Salt's early trials, aiding the advancement of polio research recognition of her selflessness. She would later receive the Povirello Medal from the College of Steubenville. Back in the nineteen fifties, fear and doubt about polio were rampant, but the nation didn't dwell on problems. We did what Americans always do. We focused on solutions. The March of Dimes mobilized millions to raise money so that doctor Sulk and other researchers could carry on well. Seventy years ago, on April twelve, nineteen fifty five, the vaccine was declared safe and effective. It's easy to see the clarity of past successes, but harder to find it in today's challenges. The country appears divided, with many voices focusing on what is wrong, But we know the best way forward is to unite and focus on what we can make right, just as my ane Cecilia did.

And thank you so much, Tom for a beautiful story about your aunt. As you guys just heard. On April twelve, nineteen fifty five, was when the first polio vaccine was licensed and was rolled out massively across the country. So the seventieth anniversary was just a few days ago, and guys. You know, I'm only thirty six. I do not have much familiarity with polio, and I'm guessing that's true for a lot of folks my age and younger, and probably even many folks of every age is across the country. So I decided to do a little bit more research for this shop talk, and I was curious what the peak was like with polio in the country, and it was in nineteen fifty two, with more than twenty one thousand paralytic cases across the country. And as you heard Tom mentioned too, I mean, people were just so afraid of getting this virus from other people that they were crossing the street to avoid people you know, had polio, or you know, the ambulance wouldn't even pick his ann up. So this vaccine was a huge deal to help eradicate that and to the point where it's really not an issue in the US anymore. A couple of other things that we may be a little bit familiar with, but I'd love to dive deeper into, is Fdr. Many people know had polio, and FDR was also the founder of March of Dimes and he actually became the face on the dime in nineteen forty six, and March of Dimes grew to the point that they had thirty one hundred chapters of it across the country. This grassroots movement, their own army of normal folks who raised money, and their grassroots funding went to a ton of different researchers out there, including this young physician named doctor Jonas Soak, and I found this next part fascinating. After he developed the vaccine, it was then tested in a ginormous field trial in nineteen fifty four that involved one point eight million school children who became known as the Polio Pioneers. That's its own army and normal folks right there, guys. I mean, that is a lot of bravery for these kids and their parents to have this their kids tested by this then unknown thing and something that we've all been the beneficiaries of. And this vaccine has been so effective that the last case of wild poliovirus in the US was in nineteen seventy nine. Unfortunately, it has plagued more of the world for a longer period of time. And I found this really cool that Rotary International has been a big part in helping reduce it. Rodari has been working to eradicate polio for more than thirty five years as a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, we reduced polio cases by ninety nine point nine percent since our first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in nineteen seventy nine, Rotary members have contributed more than two point one billion dollars in countless volunteer hours to protect nearly three billion children in one hundred and twenty two countries from this paralyzing disease, and Rotary's advocacy efforts have also encouraged governments to contribute more than ten billion dollars to the effort. Today, polio remains endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but it's crucial to continue working to keep other countries polio free. If all eradication efforts stop today, within ten years, polio could paralyze as many as two hundred thousand children each year. And of course, it comes back to an army of normal folks on so many levels, those who got involved with the March of Dimes, those who are the polio pioneers, and all the Rotary members Rotary Club members across the country who've been involved in eradicating it worldwide. All right, guys, Shop Talk number forty nine the seventieth anniversary of the polio vaccine thanks to our friend Tom Purcell. You could check out his work at Tom Purcell dot com or email him at Tom at tom Purcell dot com. And as always, if you have ideas on shop Talks, email us at Army at normalfolks dot us or Bill at normalfolks dot us. I hope you will subscribe to the podcast, rate and review it, share it with friends on social, Go to normalfolks dot us and join the Army. Consider becoming a premium member any and all of these things that will help us grow an army of normal folks. I'm Alex Cortez. Until next time, do what you can

And thank you so much, Tom for a beautiful story about your aunt. As you guys just heard. On April twelve, nineteen fifty five, was when the first polio vaccine was licensed and was rolled out massively across the country. So the seventieth anniversary was just a few days ago, and guys. You know, I'm only thirty six. I do not have much familiarity with polio, and I'm guessing that's true for a lot of folks my age and younger, and probably even many folks of every age is across the country. So I decided to do a little bit more research for this shop talk, and I was curious what the peak was like with polio in the country, and it was in nineteen fifty two, with more than twenty one thousand paralytic cases across the country. And as you heard Tom mentioned too, I mean, people were just so afraid of getting this virus from other people that they were crossing the street to avoid people you know, had polio, or you know, the ambulance wouldn't even pick his ann up. So this vaccine was a huge deal to help eradicate that and to the point where it's really not an issue in the US anymore. A couple of other things that we may be a little bit familiar with, but I'd love to dive deeper into, is Fdr. Many people know had polio, and FDR was also the founder of March of Dimes and he actually became the face on the dime in nineteen forty six, and March of Dimes grew to the point that they had thirty one hundred chapters of it across the country. This grassroots movement, their own army of normal folks who raised money, and their grassroots funding went to a ton of different researchers out there, including this young physician named doctor Jonas Soak, and I found this next part fascinating. After he developed the vaccine, it was then tested in a ginormous field trial in nineteen fifty four that involved one point eight million school children who became known as the Polio Pioneers. That's its own army and normal folks right there, guys. I mean, that is a lot of bravery for these kids and their parents to have this their kids tested by this then unknown thing and something that we've all been the beneficiaries of. And this vaccine has been so effective that the last case of wild poliovirus in the US was in nineteen seventy nine. Unfortunately, it has plagued more of the world for a longer period of time. And I found this really cool that Rotary International has been a big part in helping reduce it. Rodari has been working to eradicate polio for more than thirty five years as a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, we reduced polio cases by ninety nine point nine percent since our first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in nineteen seventy nine, Rotary members have contributed more than two point one billion dollars in countless volunteer hours to protect nearly three billion children in one hundred and twenty two countries from this paralyzing disease, and Rotary's advocacy efforts have also encouraged governments to contribute more than ten billion dollars to the effort. Today, polio remains endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but it's crucial to continue working to keep other countries polio free. If all eradication efforts stop today, within ten years, polio could paralyze as many as two hundred thousand children each year. And of course, it comes back to an army of normal folks on so many levels, those who got involved with the March of Dimes, those who are the polio pioneers, and all the Rotary members Rotary Club members across the country who've been involved in eradicating it worldwide. All right, guys, Shop Talk number forty nine the seventieth anniversary of the polio vaccine thanks to our friend Tom Purcell. You could check out his work at Tom Purcell dot com or email him at Tom at tom Purcell dot com. And as always, if you have ideas on shop Talks, email us at Army at normalfolks dot us or Bill at normalfolks dot us. I hope you will subscribe to the podcast, rate and review it, share it with friends on social, Go to normalfolks dot us and join the Army. Consider becoming a premium member any and all of these things that will help us grow an army of normal folks. I'm Alex Cortez. Until next time, do what you can