Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.abilene-rc.com/index.cfm?event=news.view&id=30E06B66-19B9-E2F5-46FA89B0711A5B66
Story of polio being retold in Kansan?s documentary
Dave Bergmeier
Editor and Publisher
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
click to view gallery
A documentary film project on polio from a Kansan?s perspective brought a loud ovation during a presentation Saturday at the Eisenhower Visitors Center.
Nathan Guy, Hutchinson, a 31-year-old aspiring independent film producer showed clips from his Epidemic! Survivors? Spirit, which will be unveiled later this year. The independent film was inspired after visiting Central Kansas Polio Survivors Support Group, Hutchinson. Guy?s presentation was during Saturday?s Rotary District No.
5670 convention, which was at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum.
One of the survivors and active member in the polio support group became an instant hit with Rotarian attendees as she talked about the challenges she faced. Jean Graber, Pretty Prairie, talked about the hardship, her spending three months in a fully enclosed capsule known as an iron lung at Hutchinson hospital.
Graber, who grew up in Meade, contracted polio in 1952 at the age of 6. She remembers being overcome by a high fever and breaking out in a cold sweat. Graber said she and her sister, Susan, only age 3, were rushed by her parents to the family doctor, who immediately instructed them to take them to the Hutchinson hospital.
?I went into a dark room,? she remembers.
Graber was on an iron lung for six weeks. There were no television, stereos, or computers or any of today?s modern conveniences that could make life easier. Graber, remembers that?s where she learned to read.
Her sister was very sad because she did not understand why she was separated from her sister. Susan had not contracted the virus.
Graber was in the Hutchinson hospital for about three months. When she returned to Meade, her family and friends were very supportive. Graber said she was determined to have a normal childhood.
?My folks never babied me,? she said.
She remembered having paralysis in her left arm and being partially paralyzed in her right arm, but she could breath on her own.
She played a sousaphone because she could not stand for long periods of time. When it came to marching, her band mates allowed her to march with them.
Education was important to her family and Graber graduated from Wichita State University with a degree in elementary education. She learned to drive as her father and a family friend modified a vehicle so she could drive to school and eventually land a job. The car had a special device with a yoke that allowed her to use her legs beyond simply operating the pedals. She admired her dad for allowing his daughter to live a normal life.
?It came with a lot of blood, sweat and tears,? she said with a smile about the modified vehicle.
She remembers driving to Liberal the day after Easter as a teen-ager to get her license and that was an important step.
?Giving me the independence to drive was incalculable,? she said.
After graduating from Wichita State she secured a teaching position at Kingman and enjoyed a successful career for 38 years. She also had a goal to be happily married and have a family. She got married and became a stepmother for two children and she and her husband also adopted a child.
Graber enjoys sharing her story. It is not one without pain. In 1983, she was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome, which meant she deals with periods of being tired because of weaknesses that developed in her muscles.
?The point I want to make in this message is you can handle anything,? Graber said.
She said it is important to keep the knowledge of polio and other diseases alive to prevent their return, but also to serve as a way to educate people about the importance of courage and perseverance.
Guy said polio and its impact on America, particularly as an epidemic in the 1950s was a story that needs to be retold. When people talk about H1N1, SARS and West Nile Virus today, they tend to think about places far away, he said. Polio was a very real epidemic that hit Kansans and the rest of the country.
Guy has an understanding for those who face hardships.
The Buhler native has PKU, genetic disorder disease that affects his body?s ability to process protein.
Guy admired how polio victims faced adversity with a positive spirit that was equally contagious. Their positive spirit was worth celebrating.
Re-examining the importance of vaccinations in today?s world, whether for polio across the world or future viruses helps people to understand not only prevention but how to help victims and their families with compassion.
Polio affects mainly children, which makes the stories even more important to tell, Guy said. In the 1940s, Los Angeles reported 50 new cases a day, he said. From 1952-54, the number of reported cases was 100,000 and was tied to 3,000 deaths.
?That came in a country where there is the very best in science and modern technology was available,? he said.
That?s why it is important to pursue vaccinations and prevention policies, the film producer said.
The media coverage of the H1N1 virus, he said, has heightened fear among Americans. He said in one sense in may be justifiable, but also there is a need for coverage depth that goes beyond hysteria. That was one lesson he learned from visiting with polio victims.
?Polio was a complete mystery,? he said. ?No one knew how they got it. A reason for the documentary was to educate and tell the relationship of the people and their communities and the importance of those people in their lives.?
Americans have to deal with multiple sclerosis, diabetes, Lou Gehrig?s disease. He said after the presentation, AIDS and HIV?are also examples in the 1980s and early 1990s when people did not know how to react.
His documentary included a 1957 news report that recorded that Protection, Kan. a small southwest community became the first town in America in which everyone younger than 40 was vaccinated.
Other polio victims talked about the challenges they had, and they shared stories that included laughter and also poignant ones about being scared about what was ahead.
A polio survivor talked about having a job in which she had to work for three months at half of the regular pay to prove to her supervisor that she was capable of being a full-time worker.
One man said polio taught him that a disability is not the ending, but the beginning of a new life.
Guy studies film and theatre at the University of Kansas and has a bachelor of arts degree in film from Vancouver, Canada. He is founder of Indie Guy Productions where he produces short independent films, educational documentaries and is also a video photographer.
Polio eradication is a project that has been embraced as an important goal around the world. Rotary International has taken leadership and raised multi-millions of dollars for vaccine. The organization was recognized by the Wall Street Journal for its efforts. Rotary has already raised $800 million and by the time the project has completed it will have raised $1.2 billion.
The project started in 1985. The Rotary District No. 5670 as of Dec. 31, 2009 will have raised $250,000 over the 20-year period.
Guy said Graber?s story and of other survivors is reaffirmation about what is important in life. They key to success, he said, is not measured by material success, but whether a person continues to strive to succeed.
Guy was a panelist along with Fary Moini, San Diego, who talked about success in immunizing children in Afghanistan...
Story of polio being retold in Kansan?s documentary
Dave Bergmeier
Editor and Publisher
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
click to view gallery
A documentary film project on polio from a Kansan?s perspective brought a loud ovation during a presentation Saturday at the Eisenhower Visitors Center.
Nathan Guy, Hutchinson, a 31-year-old aspiring independent film producer showed clips from his Epidemic! Survivors? Spirit, which will be unveiled later this year. The independent film was inspired after visiting Central Kansas Polio Survivors Support Group, Hutchinson. Guy?s presentation was during Saturday?s Rotary District No.
5670 convention, which was at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum.
One of the survivors and active member in the polio support group became an instant hit with Rotarian attendees as she talked about the challenges she faced. Jean Graber, Pretty Prairie, talked about the hardship, her spending three months in a fully enclosed capsule known as an iron lung at Hutchinson hospital.
Graber, who grew up in Meade, contracted polio in 1952 at the age of 6. She remembers being overcome by a high fever and breaking out in a cold sweat. Graber said she and her sister, Susan, only age 3, were rushed by her parents to the family doctor, who immediately instructed them to take them to the Hutchinson hospital.
?I went into a dark room,? she remembers.
Graber was on an iron lung for six weeks. There were no television, stereos, or computers or any of today?s modern conveniences that could make life easier. Graber, remembers that?s where she learned to read.
Her sister was very sad because she did not understand why she was separated from her sister. Susan had not contracted the virus.
Graber was in the Hutchinson hospital for about three months. When she returned to Meade, her family and friends were very supportive. Graber said she was determined to have a normal childhood.
?My folks never babied me,? she said.
She remembered having paralysis in her left arm and being partially paralyzed in her right arm, but she could breath on her own.
She played a sousaphone because she could not stand for long periods of time. When it came to marching, her band mates allowed her to march with them.
Education was important to her family and Graber graduated from Wichita State University with a degree in elementary education. She learned to drive as her father and a family friend modified a vehicle so she could drive to school and eventually land a job. The car had a special device with a yoke that allowed her to use her legs beyond simply operating the pedals. She admired her dad for allowing his daughter to live a normal life.
?It came with a lot of blood, sweat and tears,? she said with a smile about the modified vehicle.
She remembers driving to Liberal the day after Easter as a teen-ager to get her license and that was an important step.
?Giving me the independence to drive was incalculable,? she said.
After graduating from Wichita State she secured a teaching position at Kingman and enjoyed a successful career for 38 years. She also had a goal to be happily married and have a family. She got married and became a stepmother for two children and she and her husband also adopted a child.
Graber enjoys sharing her story. It is not one without pain. In 1983, she was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome, which meant she deals with periods of being tired because of weaknesses that developed in her muscles.
?The point I want to make in this message is you can handle anything,? Graber said.
She said it is important to keep the knowledge of polio and other diseases alive to prevent their return, but also to serve as a way to educate people about the importance of courage and perseverance.
Guy said polio and its impact on America, particularly as an epidemic in the 1950s was a story that needs to be retold. When people talk about H1N1, SARS and West Nile Virus today, they tend to think about places far away, he said. Polio was a very real epidemic that hit Kansans and the rest of the country.
Guy has an understanding for those who face hardships.
The Buhler native has PKU, genetic disorder disease that affects his body?s ability to process protein.
Guy admired how polio victims faced adversity with a positive spirit that was equally contagious. Their positive spirit was worth celebrating.
Re-examining the importance of vaccinations in today?s world, whether for polio across the world or future viruses helps people to understand not only prevention but how to help victims and their families with compassion.
Polio affects mainly children, which makes the stories even more important to tell, Guy said. In the 1940s, Los Angeles reported 50 new cases a day, he said. From 1952-54, the number of reported cases was 100,000 and was tied to 3,000 deaths.
?That came in a country where there is the very best in science and modern technology was available,? he said.
That?s why it is important to pursue vaccinations and prevention policies, the film producer said.
The media coverage of the H1N1 virus, he said, has heightened fear among Americans. He said in one sense in may be justifiable, but also there is a need for coverage depth that goes beyond hysteria. That was one lesson he learned from visiting with polio victims.
?Polio was a complete mystery,? he said. ?No one knew how they got it. A reason for the documentary was to educate and tell the relationship of the people and their communities and the importance of those people in their lives.?
Americans have to deal with multiple sclerosis, diabetes, Lou Gehrig?s disease. He said after the presentation, AIDS and HIV?are also examples in the 1980s and early 1990s when people did not know how to react.
His documentary included a 1957 news report that recorded that Protection, Kan. a small southwest community became the first town in America in which everyone younger than 40 was vaccinated.
Other polio victims talked about the challenges they had, and they shared stories that included laughter and also poignant ones about being scared about what was ahead.
A polio survivor talked about having a job in which she had to work for three months at half of the regular pay to prove to her supervisor that she was capable of being a full-time worker.
One man said polio taught him that a disability is not the ending, but the beginning of a new life.
Guy studies film and theatre at the University of Kansas and has a bachelor of arts degree in film from Vancouver, Canada. He is founder of Indie Guy Productions where he produces short independent films, educational documentaries and is also a video photographer.
Polio eradication is a project that has been embraced as an important goal around the world. Rotary International has taken leadership and raised multi-millions of dollars for vaccine. The organization was recognized by the Wall Street Journal for its efforts. Rotary has already raised $800 million and by the time the project has completed it will have raised $1.2 billion.
The project started in 1985. The Rotary District No. 5670 as of Dec. 31, 2009 will have raised $250,000 over the 20-year period.
Guy said Graber?s story and of other survivors is reaffirmation about what is important in life. They key to success, he said, is not measured by material success, but whether a person continues to strive to succeed.
Guy was a panelist along with Fary Moini, San Diego, who talked about success in immunizing children in Afghanistan...