Eight miles from Trinity View is Care Partners Rehabilitation Hospital which was ground zero for treatment of another epidemic that passed through the Western North Carolina and Asheville in 1948 and 1952. Known then as the Asheville Orthopedic Hospital, it provided care for victims, mostly children, who had contracted polio.
In the second stage, during the summer of 1952, my 5-year-old brother, was diagnosed with polio. He was taken to the hospital on Sweeten Creek Road. Paralysis was common, iron lungs were frequently the last bed for youngsters dying. It was a frightening time.
The beds were filling up fast. In a hospital, today with 80 beds, more than 300 patients were admitted. The Red Cross provided 106 emergency nurses paid by the March of Dimes. My father, who had been a medic in WWII, volunteered for orderly services. At one point tents were utilized with army surplus cots.
My brother had several surgeries and worked strenuously at rehabilitation. There were only four orthopedic surgeons in Asheville at the time. Today there are 55.
In 1955 the Salk vaccine was introduced into Asheville and because we had a family history, we were among the first to receive it. Today polio is virtually wiped out in the United States. For my brothers and sisters, this was a very happy occasion. We knew clearly what it meant to prevent this horrible disease.
So on to today, this blog entry was meant to be encouragement for those who are taking the vaccines for the current pandemic. Trying to find parameters, I began to think about what the very discovery of a vaccine meant to my earlier life.
Today we do have a very serious disease with unbelievable levels of fatalities. We are wearing masks and social distancing to stem the spread, but a vaccine has become available that may even permanently end the disease just as happened with polio. My congratulations to the residents and staff who have made the choice to take a needle and give some protection and prevention to us all.
By the way, my brother survived, has worn a leg brace most of his life, and still has pains and limps when he is tired, but he compensated well and is the most athletic of our eight siblings (a low bar.)
