'I don’t remember the day that the Variety Children’s Hospital first opened its doors to polio kids. In fact I knew very little of the hospital or the good people who came together to build it. It wasn’t until many decades later, after my folks had both passed away that I came across a small carton of papers my mother had saved from 1950. In the box were personal letters, telegrams, photos and newspaper clippings. They told the story of a very young American boy stricken with polio in Curacao in the Dutch West Indies, where his father had been stationed. Several old telegrams printed on thin pink paper described in detail how Pan American Airways rerouted an empty cargo plane to fly the boy to Miami at no cost to the family. Newspaper clippings in the box from the front page of the Miami Herald dated March 21, 1950 showed photos of Polio kids being transported to Variety Children’s Hospital the day before. I don’t remember that day because I was only 3-½. But as I studied the papers from that box, I was overcome with emotion.
The old papers and newspaper clippings were about me. It was as if the whole country had come together in 1950, just 5 years after the end of World War II to give dimes in every neighborhood in every state, to build special hospitals with funds donated by caring people, and to volunteer their time. And I was the beneficiary of their kindness.
And though Polio left one leg completely paralyzed, I have had a very good life, all things considered. Now, at the age of 68, I can still get around pretty well with a cane. I have raised a family, built a business, and while I haven’t been successful enough to retire, I am still able to work. That is a blessing. I can sill walk a mile every day, even more on some days.
Going through that box of papers, I realized how much I have to be grateful for, how many good Americans I wish I could find a way to properly thank for what they did for me 65 years ago. What I can do here and now is to thank the wonderful people who work and volunteer at the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital today and walk in the footsteps of those who helped me.
-Phil D.