Evening star., 1944-12-25
Newly Found Friends
Cheer Former WAC,
Rare Disease Victim

Little could former WAC Marga.
ret Brady expect for this Christina.
when she was aboard train Il
Washington five months ago. Com.
pletely paralyzed from her neck OF
down, and virtually without any
family, she was coming to a city
where she knew not a person.
To-day, after surviving many DAYS
when doctors thought she would die
any moment, the little brunette, who
is victim of ascending myelitis
is spending a wonderful holiday
in her bed at Mount Alto Veterans
Hospital here. For she now has
more friends than most active
Washingtonians, and numerous
WAVES and WACS are her fam
uy and Santa Claus.
Peggy says she doesn't worry
about herself, but she has had rea-
son to. An orphan since 7, she was
stricken with the rare disease last
January at Smyrna Army Air Base.
For six weeks she was kept in a
reSpirator at Thayer General Hos
pital in Nashville, Tenn.
Doctors Puzzled.
"They didn't expect me to live at
all" the soft-voiced girl said yeSter-
day. Doctors came from all over to
see me They couldn't understand
why my heart was still beating, be-
cause the paralysis had crept up to
my neck and over half my face, and
my chest had caved in"
Nevertheless, Peggy had a good
time" at Thayer-celebrities visited
there, she could talk with other
patients and she slowly was learning
total disability" discharge from the
WACS and the order that she be
moved to a veterans hospital.
1t was a generals wife working
as nurses aide at Mount Alto who
found her sobbing because she had
been discharged in the confusion
of arranging her records she was
receiving little attention here, and
no veterans could visit her. The
generals wife called WAC 1t. Grace
Kempton about Peggy. 1t. Kemp
ton started visiting her every other
day and told her friends about the
friendless girl.
Reported Near Death.
"One day they called me and said
Peggy was dying" 1t. Kempton
told reporter. Il rushed out there
and kidded her. I said, You can't
do that to us, Peggy And she
didn't"
Another person who relieved Peg
gy's loneliness was the hostess on
the train bringing her to Washing
ton. From these two persons the
news of the young invalid spread
until Peggy's circle of close friends
here numbers at least so. She is
sending out 100 Christmas cards,
with the aid of WACS, for Peggy
can't quite manage writing.
She was tremendously inspired"
by boy who had been shot up in
the fighting overseas. He hobbled
in on cane to visit her, and his
courage gave her new hope. She
also is carrying on a lively cor
respondence with soldiers on all
battle fronts, since WAC and WAVE
friends wrote them about Peggy,
and her name was printed in a
Special Services Bulletin. Their let
ters are fascinating" she said, and
include engraved German calling
cards captured" by Yanks.
Made Honorary Member.
WACS at Fort Myer have voted
Peggy an honorary member of their
detachment and they still address
her letters "Pvt.," instead of Miss
for She SO hated being discharged
Although they cagy full-time Army
Jobs, WACS from Fort Myer and
Boiling Field go to- the hospital lin
droves," bringing her small gifts
and writing letters for her. They
celebrated her birthday with a