World Polio Day, Oct. 24

     Polio has been in existence in this world for thousands of years. It’s an intestinal virus that is spread through person-to-person contact. It’s an infectious disease that affects the central nervous system, and could lead to temporary or permanent paralysis.

     Less than one in 100 people infected with polio are diagnosed with paralytic polio. One such person is Josie Bollwitt of Monticello. She was diagnosed with polio in 1946 at the age of 3.

     Oct. 24 (today) is known as World Polio Day, and the Monticello Rotary Club, among Rotary clubs throughout the country, are working hard to bring an end to polio. Since 1988, there has been a worldwide reduction in polio cases of 99.9 percent. Last year, only three countries still reported cases of polio: Afghanistan, Syria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

     To read about Rotary’s efforts to end polio, visit www.endpolio.org/.

     At the time of her diagnosis, Bollwitt lived in Kansas City, Mo. A family of four children, Bollwitt was the only one in her family to contract polio.

     “It was hard on my mom and dad and my whole family,” she said. “I come from a big Hispanic family.”

     Bollwitt recalled knowing there was a big polio epidemic in Kansas City at the time. While she can’t recall much from that time in her life due to her young age, what she does know stemmed from her mother through the years.

     Bollwitt said a neighbor girl next door was suffering from a cold and flu, and she likely contracted polio from contact with the neighbor girl.

     “Mom swears that’s where I got it,” she said.

     Bollwitt said she was physically weak in her muscles bone structure.

     She said it took several surgeries and physical therapy sessions to try and correct her polio.

     “I had a lot of surgeries throughout my life,” she said. Bollwitt explained the experimental surgeries were in an effort to keep the lengths of both of her legs relatively the same.

     “It’s better than it could have been,” she said.

     While Bollwitt walk with a cane today, a long-term side effect she attributes to her polio, she said she could never wear high heels growing up.

     “While that did affect me, it’s not that important,” she said of the little things in life.

     Bollwitt became pretty sick and couldn’t walk for a while when she was hospitalized. She said as an active child, it was unusual that she didn’t have any energy.

     “I didn’t have any real pain, though,” she said. “I was pretty fortunate.”

     She said her mom was very protective of her children, and Bollwitt was secluded from her family for some time for fear of contracting polio.

     “My brother were not allowed in the hospital because it was so contagious,” she said. “My mom and dad were just devastated.” Bollwitt said the local swimming pool and movie theaters closed down for some time to keep from spreading polio.

     “Kansas City had one of the biggest polio epidemics at that time,” she said.

     Bollwitt said her doctors would use wool to wrap around her legs in an effort to maintain her movement. Years prior, children with polio were fitted with leg braces. A woman by the name of “Sister” Elizabeth Kenny (a nurse, not a nun) developed a way to help people maintain use of their limbs without stiff splits or braces.

     As she grew up, Bollwitt said she led a normal life.

     “I don’t remember any physical issues,” she said.

     She was taken to her doctor more than other kids her age, again due to the polio.

     “I wore a brace for a while, but as children, you adapt to anything,” she said.

     When Bollwitt’s two younger siblings were born, the polio vaccine had already been developed, preventing them from contracting the disease.

     When the Bollwitt family moved to Monticello and raised their children here, Bollwitt became good friends with the school nurse at Shannon Elementary, Janet Motsinger. It turns out, Motsinger spent time in her nursing career at the exact same hospital in Kansas City where Bollwitt was hospitalized with polio.

     Just within the last five years or so, Bollwitt has had to make use of a cane or walker to get around.

     “I always had a limp, people just didn’t notice,” she said. “My legs aren’t what they should be, but God gave me a good mind.”

     Today, Bollwitt said she doesn’t think of herself as a polio survivor. In fact, she doesn’t think about it at all.

     “Life gets busy and you get distracted,” she said.

     She and her husband, Duane, are fortunate to have supportive family close by, which helps.

     “In my younger years, Duane always pushed me to do the things I could do versus what I couldn’t do,” she said of expanding her abilities.

     The Bollwitts have always been active in the Monticello community and through the schools as their kids grew up.

     “We’ve lived here for 46 years,” she said.