Most Canadians today don’t think much about polio.
Akinsdale resident Rick Meunier gets a reminder every time he looks at his feet.
“This is what’s left over from my polio,” said the 73-year-old, indicating the extra-thick sole on the shoe on his left foot.
“My left leg is one-and-a-half inches shorter than my right leg.”
Today, he lives with post-polio syndrome and uses a cane to get around because of muscle weakness.
But that hasn’t stopped Meunier and his wife Ann from crafting 40 stained-glass wild roses to give to volunteers as part of the 25th anniversary of the Wildrose Polio Support Society.
Established in 1999, the society is a group of about 120 polio survivors in northern Alberta that promotes awareness of polio and its consequences. Meunier is one of its board members. The group is celebrating its 25th anniversary this Sept. 28.
The celebration will feature speakers, music, a dinner, and the presentation of the glass wild roses to unpaid caregivers of people with polio, said society board member Bernd Schwanke.
Polio past and present
Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by the poliovirus, the federal government reports. It is infamous for its ability to cause nerve damage leading to paralysis, which happens in less than one per cent of cases. It has no cure, but can be prevented with vaccines.
Polio was a worldwide terror in the early 1900s prior to the discovery of effective vaccines in the 1950s, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. It paralyzed hundreds of thousands of children each year, with many having to use braces to walk or iron lungs to breathe.
Meunier said he and his sister were hospitalized with polio in around 1953. The disease left him with one leg shorter than the other, and he had to walk using braces and special shoes for a time.
Schwanke, 77, said he contracted polio when he was three. He remembers how he was walking along when he suddenly fell over.
“I was paralyzed. My one leg didn’t work.”
Schwanke and Meunier said they recovered from polio and had ordinary childhoods and working lives. They now both have post-polio syndrome — a group of symptoms such as fatigue, pain, and muscle weakness that emerge 30 to 40 years after a person has polio. About 25 to 40 per cent of adults who had paralytic polio as children will develop post-polio syndrome, the federal government says.
Meunier said he first felt symptoms around 1990 when he noticed how tough it was for him to walk around at work. Now, he gets around with the help of Ann, a cane, and an electric stair lift.
Schwanke said his post-polio syndrome flared up about 14 years ago following a back injury. It took doctors about five years to formally determine that he had it, as its symptoms overlap with many other disorders (such as Parkinson’s disease).
Schwanke said the effects of post-polio syndrome vary widely. He can still walk short distances without a cane, for example, but others need wheelchairs and respirators.
“The fatigue is the worst,” he said.
“You’re just so tired.”
Schwanke said most Canadians with post-polio syndrome are seniors, as Canada has been polio-free since 1994. While a global vaccination campaign has eliminated polio from the wild everywhere but Pakistan and Afghanistan, a rise in people refusing to get vaccines means it could come roaring back.
Schwanke urged residents to get vaccinated against polio and other diseases. (About 92 per cent of two-year-olds in Canada had received the polio vaccine as of 2019, according to the federal government.)
“We don’t want to have another epidemic hitting us.”
The society’s 25th anniversary event is Sept. 28 from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Royal Hotel West Edmonton. Tickets are $20. Call 780-428-8842 for details.
