Show ial 1 his h is the first arst oj of two articles on the revolutionary discovery of tin div jor for infantile paralysis lysis by the famous abnous australian ulian nurse sister elizaaeth Eliza heth he hyim tin an enemy Strike sand sister ailster kenny appears alpeat s this is a story about a woman and her unending light against ag ainest an unseen cruel ruthless enemy of mankind it itis is the story of sister elizabeth eliza b eth kenny famed amid f aus i ra ii n nurse and her one woman crusade against the crippling disease infantile paralysis the story begins more than 25 years ago deep in ti the ic heart of australia when a child suddenly became ill like all parents in ili this deso desolate section of the land down under the P patents arents of this child consulted neigh bors when their son became ill ili seek seck ing advice but neighbors shook their heads helplessly to them as to the par ants this was a strange astrande disease and one that left frightening affects doctors not available there were no doctors to call upon in this part of alias bush country the medical needs of the farmers and an assortment of prospectors and explorers being cared for by a community nurse by force of circumstances she was tho the medical adviser midwife and consultant for the entire entile population only when her hei services were sorely needed wils ds she sha called upon toi for her many duties in the seemingly boundless wilderness she served kept her hei constantly busy dut but despairing of their childs ufa life and nd unable to find other help in the cOm community y the parents called for the nurse muse sister elizabeth kenny to miss kenny too the disease wa cist something new immediately she telegraphed an 0 old id friend dr aeneas J mcdonnell chief surgeon of toowoomba general hospital in queensland and one ona of Au alias outstanding surgeons describing the symptoms symptom and asking his advice this was the reply INFANTILE PARALYSIS NO KNOWN CURE DO DID BEST YOU CAN miss kenny read the tha message and handed it to the parents tears welled in their eyes as they focused on the helpless pain ravaged body of their son new burdens but the nurse nursa did not despair her first move was to east ease the tha pain of tile the suffering child then now new burdens burdena tell fell on miss kenny and a greater fear gripped the community as five more children were struck down by the disease six children now lay helpless faced with death or a future of grotesquely tes quely deformed bodies many adversities had been over come coma by men and women it striving rIvIng to eke out an existence in this section of australia but a now new enemy they did not know how to fight and one that medical science had not conquered filled them with stark terror to facilitate general care miss kenny moved her six alx lx patients to one ona large house there the children looked up at miss kenny and all who visited them with eat eathelle hetle pleading lifeless eyes to the community they were youngsters young to be pitied who it if they lived would go through life with twisted arms legs and spines robbed of their mobility health happiness and independence A challenge but to miss kenny they were more than this they were a challenge to herself and to all mankind As a school girl elizabeth kenny had been given access to the libora labora tory of dr mcdonnell here she had spent counti countless ess hours fashioning mache maccie models of tile the various body muscles and attaching thorn to a skeleton hero sho she acquired a remarkable knowledge of it the anatomy and velo elop poll an inherent skill and be bc 1 i muscle functions she also aleo do de W k ai U 1 1 sister kenny mild and one of tile many children she bile lias has helped gan to see the human body as a delicate machine here fere sho she obtained unknowingly tile the knowledge that was to prove so important in evolving her world lamed famed treatment As a nurse she ahe sat a what medical practitioners had been sc in ili su such ell I 1 c cases s il 3 sinco since they thay first recognized infande aia anle le paralysis as a separate disease and miss dennys technical mind saw more if 1 saw the tha affected muscles as a series of lovers levers cables pulleys an intricate mechanical system something she sensed had gone w wrong rong with the mechanism of motion in those twisted bodies limbs refused to move A discovery her examination baan disclosed that whilo while some muscles appeared to bo be paralyzed their opposing muscles mus cles were were in spasm tha muscles were contra contracting c tin g resulting in ing pain later studies were to prove that this was a revolutionary discovery up to this timi time spastic patac muscles never had been considered or even known in the tha treatment ment ot of infantile paralysis since these were sick muscles miss kenny concluded they should be ba treated heat therapy i she ille felt would bring relief after trying various kinds of heat to ensa ease pain mass kenny finally nit upon hot fomentation hot c cants ants as the most eff enebe Vve jhc shades als c covered ov crud these theia brought st in stant relief from pain and after several days caused relaxations of the tha a affected muscles and disappearance of spasm when the pain had subsided miss kenny made another startling discovery that tho the app apparently ardently para lyzen muscles were not actually paralyzed at all but because of the dise disease asee had lost their ordination coordination co and ability to f ally she then tried retraining these muscles to normal activity movement returns for several miss kenny continued her treatments following the theory she hod had discovered stricken child children reri gradually were learning to use their arms andregs andIe and legs gs before long they lit their beds they again became normal robust children able to romp andalay and play and best of all alii there were no ugly no crippling bf at brile braces Cs tale paralysis at 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