BOPDHB History Tauranga Hospital Centennial Book | Page 9
After leaving the hospital I went back to my mum.
I wasn’t married at that stage I was still looking!
Once I had my car, which was given to me by the
Crippled Children’s Society, I was away. I still went
hunting, eeling, trout fishing and I crawled on my hands
and knees to do all that. I got a job back at the mill,
inside in the office. I also helped run a youth club, I
taught St John’s in Kawerau and I worked to raise
money for cancer… I’ve always done things for the
community.
I always thought and believed in religion because I was
taught religion at school and it was in the curriculum
and I said to myself, ‘why did that joker up there pick
on me, if he’s around?’ Then later on I thought ‘look if
you’re going to worry about a little thing like that why
don’t you get off your backside and do something about
it!’ That’s why I was able to make myself crawl and do
what I used to do. Well just about except climb
Mt Edgecumbe of course. You’re limited to what you
can do but there’s no such word as can’t. If I wanted
to get to the top of Mt Edgecumbe I’d surely get there I
would! I’m truly blessed by the people that are around
me and that have backed me.
I took up wheelchair sports in 1964 and have
participated in nine Paralympic and Commonwealth
Games, winning a total of four gold, eight silver and
seven bronze medals between 1966 and 1980. In 1974
I was awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire)
by Queen Elizabeth II, at Wellington’s Government
House, for services to paraplegic sport. I married
Madeleine in 1963 and we have three children and I’d
like to acknowledge the help, love and support from my
family over the years.
Incidence of Poliomyelitis
in Epidemic Years, by Age Groups
20 +
15 - 19
50
10 - 14
40
5-9
30
0-4
20
10
0
1916
1925
1948-49
1937
1952-53
1955-56
What is Polio?
• A highly contagious viral disease which attacks the
nervous system and causes paralysis.
• Symptoms include: fever, headache, malaise, pain
and stiffness in back and neck, and partial or complete
paralysis of limbs or the entire body.
• Children under five are the most likely age group to
contract the virus.
Did You Know?
The practice of immunisation dates back hundreds of years.
Buddhist monks drank snake venom to become immune to
snake bites. Edward Jenner is considered the founder of
vaccinology. In the West, in 1796, he inoculated a 13 yearold boy with vaccinia virus (cowpox), and demonstrated
immunity to smallpox. In 1798, the first smallpox vaccine
was developed. Over the 18th and 19th centuries,
systematic implementation of mass smallpox immunisation
culminated in its global eradication in 1979.
Measles
“Unfortunately, some childhood infectious illnesses remain
a significant problem, with measles a real threat. Even
though we have been successful in vaccinating about 90
per cent of children in recent years, we need to consistently
vaccinate over 95 per cent to have any real chance of
preventing outbreaks. Every case of measles is potentially
serious. Vaccination is the only safe and effective way to
prevent measles.”
1918 Influenza Pandemic
90
60
1925
Influenza Pandemics
100
70
1916
Dr Phil Shoemack, Medical Officer of Health,
Toi Te Ora, Bay of Plenty District Health Board.
Polio Epidemics
80
New Zealand endured six polio epidemics
New Zealand’s worst disease disaster to date is the
influenza pandemic that struck between October –
December 1918. No event has killed so many
New Zealanders in such a short time. While the First World
War claimed the lives of more than 18,000 New Zealand
soldiers over a four-year period, the second wave of the
1918 influenza epidemic killed almost 8600 people in less
than two months. No other recorded influenza pandemic
has been so deadly – and nobody knows why it was
so lethal.
1937 1947-49 1952-53 1955-56
Epidemic Years
Source: F.S. Maclean, Challenge for Health, p. 327
3