Poliomyelitis is a highly contagious disease that can cause paralysis
of legs, arms, and respiratory muscles. “The polio virus is a silver
bullet designed to kill specific parts of the brain,” Richard Bruno, a
clinical psychophysiologist, and director of the International Centre
for Polio Education said. “But parents today have no idea what polio was
like, so it’s hard to convince somebody that lives are at risk if they
don’t vaccinate.”When Lillard was a child, polio was every
parent’s worst nightmare. The worst polio outbreak year in US history
took place in 1952, a year before Lillard was infected. There were about
58,000 reported cases. Out of all the cases, 21,269 were paralyzed and
3,145 died. “They closed theaters, swimming pools, families would keep
their kids away from other kids because of the fear of transmission,”
Bruno said.Children under the age of five are especially susceptible. In the 1940s
and 1950s, hospitals across the country were filled with rows of iron
lungs that kept victims alive. Lillard recalls being in rooms packed
with metal tubes—especially when there were storms and all the men,
women, adults, and children would be moved to the same room so nurses
could manually operate the iron lungs if the power went out. “The period
of time that it took the nurse to get out of the chair, it seemed like
forever because you weren’t breathing,” Lillard said. “You just laid
there and you could feel your heart beating and it was just terrifying.
The only noise that you can make when you can’t breathe is clicking your
tongue. And that whole dark room just sounded like a big room full of
chickens just cluck-cluck-clucking. All the nurses were saying, ‘Just a
second, you’ll be breathing in just a second.’”
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