Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-26
A Bruve Letter

y aa
received brave, wonderful letter
from my best friend who contracted
polio last August and who was admitted
to the Georgia Warm Springs Foun--
dalton q few days after Christmas.
After / read 1t, the thought came to
me to forward excerpts from 1t in the
hope that you would publish it at this
opportune time. II you do, pray that
it will touch your readers and help them
and others to be little more generous
during the Mothers March on Polio
Drive.
For little background on my friend.
let me say that she Is a devoted wife
and fine mother of three small children,
the youngest of whom was only 8
months old when polio attacked. Incl
dentally, hers was an isolated case but
Of the worst kind. She was in the iron
lung for weeks at the D. c. General
Hospital and came out of the lung
paralyzed from the neck down. She and
all her friends have only the best to
say Of the care and attention she re-
ceived but naturally, since facilities are
limited there, her only hope was to
be admitted to the Foundation in Warm
Springs Finally. her request for adj
mittance was answered and the follow
ing is from her first letter to me since
going down there.
1--WE have a dynamic program keyed
to one end-to help improve you. !
get therapy treatments twice day.
preceded by 80 minutes of heat packs.
We are given tub baths, administered
by three maids who call for you on a
Stretcher. They dunk you in and out
of the tub and return you clean and
dry. Every day I'm given standing
table treatment. The patient is
strapped onto mechanical table and
tilted electrically to an upright position.
This Is to test your circulatory system
during change Of body position and to
accustom you once more to standing.
1t seemed good to be looking down on
things again.
THE buildings here are beautiful,
more like country club than a hos
pital. set among tall pine trees mag
nolias and jasmine. 1t is very pictures
que setting. The climate is mild. similar
to that in Washington.
For entertainment they show three
movies a week in the Foundation
theater. / attend via Stretcher and
pillows. 1t seems so funny to see all
these stretchers lined up and to say.
I lay next to So-and-so at the movie
last night There is also TV and visit
ing other patients to fill up the hours
not used In treatment. There are pa
tients here from every State in the
Union and several foreign countries.
THE food is exceptionally good and
we have such things as French fries,
steak. Dreaded pork and veal chops.
olives. bacon for breakfast and de-
licious deserts. have regained my
normal appetite and hope soon to re-
gain my normal weight. I lost about
80 pounds.
There are people here of all ages.
A large majority are mothers and chill
dren. The children are the most
pathetic as they cannot understand
what has happened to them. There are
babies here as young as 7 months
wearing tiny metal hand braces.
thank God every day that Diana was
spared in not catching it from me.
II have been up in a wheel chair only
a few times since arriving. Every one
is fitted with a steel-ribbed corset
(ouchD. They are fastened very
tightly and you feel as though you
couldn't take another breath but some
how you manage to keep breathing
and hurting In new place each time
it is put on. No one is allowed to sit
up without them. / have aluminium
hand braces that extend half way up
my forearm for assistance in some cor
rection. They are heavy and clumsy but
suppose / shall become accustomed
to them before long.
Il have been to church the last two
Sundays via the stretcher. The Foun-
dation has its own chapel with I'M
doubtedly the most pathetic congrega-
ton in the world"
Perhaps from reading this letter from
my friend. some of your readers might
be better able to realize the terrific
need for help in this field.
Miriam l.. Drake.