Dr. Ken Ockenden was introduced by Russ Powers who worked with him when Ken was a provincial coroner. Ken was born in Hamilton, graduated in chemistry from McMaster, completed medical school in Toronto, worked in northern Ontario, Central America and Hamilton hospitals. He also had polio 3 years in a row. That's what he talked about.
He gave a history of polio starting from paintings from early Egypt and working up to 1949 when as a young boy swimming in the local pool he developed a fever, and headache and had difficulty walking. He was sent to the General Hospital. There were young boys and girls there, one in an iron lung. After two weeks he improved and was sent home to recover. A year later he was back with similar conditions and recovery period. And then the next year he got it again. It turned out there were 3 different strains of poliomyelitis and he got all three.
Ken was one of the lucky children who got polio. He recovered with no real long term issues although he is now noticing his legs are weaker than usual (could be age).
When the polio vaccines were discovered infections decreased until everyone was vaccinated. Canada has been polio free for years although Pakistan and Afghanistan are still dealing with the disease. Rotary International continues to advocate for the eradication of polio and spends millions of dollars each year to meet this challenge.
He gave a history of polio starting from paintings from early Egypt and working up to 1949 when as a young boy swimming in the local pool he developed a fever, and headache and had difficulty walking. He was sent to the General Hospital. There were young boys and girls there, one in an iron lung. After two weeks he improved and was sent home to recover. A year later he was back with similar conditions and recovery period. And then the next year he got it again. It turned out there were 3 different strains of poliomyelitis and he got all three.
Ken was one of the lucky children who got polio. He recovered with no real long term issues although he is now noticing his legs are weaker than usual (could be age).
When the polio vaccines were discovered infections decreased until everyone was vaccinated. Canada has been polio free for years although Pakistan and Afghanistan are still dealing with the disease. Rotary International continues to advocate for the eradication of polio and spends millions of dollars each year to meet this challenge.