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Life after polio |
Don Davis firmly believes you cannot let anything in life beat you, no matter what the odds.
From his battle with the crippling disease polio as a child and his mother making him crawl across a room to get his own sweets, to the physiotherapist who made him howl with pain and the home-made rowing contraption that dominated the sitting room of their home, no-one in the Davis family accepted that this child might never walk again.
He was one of the lucky ones. In the days before immunisation made polio a rare disease in Australia, thousands of children caught the disease. Many died, and many never did walk again.
Don Davis's mother was a Scot, stubborn and astute, who recognised that if she pandered to her son, he might not make the effort to walk. More importantly, she recognised that when he was sent to an educational institution for the physically and mentally handicapped, not only was he not learning anything, but he was beginning to emulate the intellectually disabled children.
Many battles with the public education system later, her son was accepted into a mainstream school. Proving her instincts right, he went on to qualify as a medical technician.
The childhood years of hospitals and sanatoriums are hazy. Mr Davis does not remember much of the pain. He remembers his beloved golliwog being burnt as an infection control measure and the iron lungs that helped the worst polio cases to breathe. He remembers the ward sister who moved his bed close to her office so she could find out how he was getting his arms free from the body brace he was in. She never did.
He remembers too, many children, all polio sufferers like himself. And wide verandahs in the sanatorium where they would spend much of their time.
The young Don spent three, maybe four, Christmases in hospital wards before he got out. As soon as he could, he had chucked away the leg calipers (iron braces). Next to go were the crutches, and finally, the walking stick.
Walking on his own albeit with a slight limp by the time he reached fifth class, Mr Davis said he had a normal adolescence. A bit of a rebel, he reckons he did everything he ever wanted to do. Including rounding up Brumbies in the Snowy Mountains.
"I did a lot of riding and camping and got up to a lot of mischief," Mr Davis, who is 50 now, recalls.
These days, Mr Davis can be found on his 23 hectare cattle stud in East Coraki. His 17 year old son, Tristram, looks set to follow him into farming. His three children have been great, he said. He reckons it must drive them mad sometimes, getting this and that for Dad. It has been hard for them since their mum died, but he is proud of the way they have turned out.
There is no doubt that Mr Davis is weakening again. In the last couple of years, he has taken up a walking stick and is now back on crutches. He said he moved faster on the crutches and maybe this had contributed to a weakening of his muscles. Certainly he tires more easily.
It is quite possible Mr Davis has post-polio syndrome, a new condition that has been identified as affecting polio sufferers 20 to 30 years after they had the disease.
According to a spokeswoman from the Northern Rivers Division of General Practice, Dr Sue Page, these late effects of polio are generally considered to be the result of initial damage to the nerves slowly worsening with time. Mr Davis has put a lot of his fatigue, pain and muscle weakness down to ageing.
"I have to admit, there will be problems because you're doubling the workload on the existing muscles," he said.
"Friends ask me, what happens if and when your legs go? I say I'll always do it, even if I have to crawl across the paddock."
A fighter alright, just like his mother.
This week is (Post) Polio Awareness Week, which aims to raise awareness in the community of post-polio syndrome, a condition that can affect people 20 to 30 years after they have had polio. The person may become increasingly tired, with muscle weakness and sometimes shortness of breath, or pain. A group called the Post-Polio Network has been established to help people suffering from the late effects of polio. It can be contacted on (02) 9636 6515. For further information on polio or post-polio syndrome, you also can contact your doctor or local Public Health Unit.
This article was published in local media in November 1996.
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