Over dinner tonight, my Dad recounted
- In 1950 when he was at New Norcia he was having difficulties walking. He was sent to Moora to see Dr. Miles, who sent him to Shenton Park (then the site of the Infectious Disease Centre, I believe). They thought he had polio. Everyone was wearing masks (very scary). He said they were hoping that he didn’t have it because that would have meant that they would have had to send all 180 students home from New Norcia. Fortunately he didn’t have it, but they didn’t actually know what he had.
- When the Queen visited Australia in 1954, my Dad was working at Parliament house. As the Queen was coming to visit Perth (and Parliament house), all the staff were tested for polio before she arrived.
- Dad was in the RAAF and they were amongst the first to be immunised when the polio vaccine became available.
