by  Linda MacDonnell ~ contracted polio at age 2

I was born in Johannesburg in the summer of 1953. I was an active child always running around at top speed. In fact the nurses in the hospital said I was going to be a racing car driver. At the age of 2 years I had to be admitted to Johannesburg General Children’s Hospital as I had worms from eating sand. Whilst in hospital I caught polio from a nurse who was a carrier. She had come down from the isolation ward to visit the children’s ward. The polio affected my left side and as a result my left leg was thinner and I had scoliosis.

I had numerous operations in Johannesburg and the hospital promised I would not pay for any operations, however we moved to Durban to live and never returned to Johannesburg.

I was in Year 2 when we moved to Durban and in the next few years I attended two or three schools until it was finally suggested that I would be better off at the Open Air School in Greenwood, Durban. This was a school for physically disabled primary students who had access to physiotherapy, doctors’ visits and support following operations.

I spent 4 happy years at the Open Air School and then finished my education at Westville Girls High School.

After school I went straight into Edgwood Teachers Training College for three years to fulfill a lifelong dream to be a teacher. I taught Early Childhood for 8 years in South Africa before I met my husband, Peter MacDonnell. We travelled to Australia in 1979 and we have lived and Worked in Western Australia for 27 years. During 1980 I retrained as an Education Support Teacher and I have been working with disabled students. I was promoted to Principal of an Education Support Centre in the year 2000 and I am due to retire in 2017. I have been a member of the WA Post Polio Network for many years and I really value their support, information and advice.

by  Linda MacDonnell ~ contracted polio at age 2