Lloydminster played host to a Rotary International district conference where speakers told their stories as polio survivors.
The District 5370 conference kicked off March 14 with an opening ceremony featuring local dignitaries and included an Indigenous cultural presentation and an Indigenous curated banquet.
Read more: Rotary visited by district governor
These conferences give Rotarians a chance to see the work clubs are doing.
“Once a year, the district governor holds a district conference where we bring people together from different clubs and we talk about the work we’re doing. We talk about the various aspects of rotary,” said Brian Edwards, District 5370 governor.
He says their goal is to inspire people and educate them on programs and initiatives.
“We try to educate people on various programs that are going on and we try to inspire people to work,” said Edwards.
March 15 saw a full itinerary for the attending Rotary members. The day kicked off with breakfast before a presentation by Anne Marie Robertson, covering topics such as humanitarian efforts and international law.
Three polio survivors took the stage following a short break to tell their stories. Jackie Hobal, Susan Brazeau and Ramesh Ferris told the packed crowd their stories and why it was important to continue advocating for an end to the disease.
Brazeau, a local Lloydminster resident and polio survivor, says it’s important for people to understand the seriousness of polio.
“Our whole object is to have people become aware of just how serious polio still is in the world,” she said.
Brazeau says the goal is to eradicate polio from the world, which would make it one of only a two to ever be entirely eliminated. She said she contracted the deadly disease in one of the last outbreaks in Canada.
“I was one of the ones that contracted it in 1953 in Kenora, Ont., and that part of Ontario and also Southern Manitoba were the worst hit in North America,” said Brazeau.
Having contracted polio at a young age, she says she doesn’t remember what it was like being sick or going through all the symptoms. Brazeau says cases of polio may have been misdiagnosed.
“Polio, the first bit of polio symptoms was exactly the same as the flu. A lot of people were probably misdiagnosed with the flu rather than polio and there’s what’s called paralytic polio and non-paralytic polio. I was the paralytic polio because parts of my body were definitely affected and continued to be affected,” she said.
Brazeau talked about the impacts polio had on her.
“I had to get new shoes to go to school and that’s when they found out that I was walking on the insides of my feet. My feet were affected, my left leg is shorter and it sort of twists one way and then the foot in the ankle twists inward. Both my feet have hurt me all my life. I’ve got a problem with my upper shoulder and upper right arm and my groin area,” she said. “I’ve just learned to live with all of these.”
Having survived the disease, Brazeau now experiences side effects decades later.
“They called it post-polio syndrome and there are all of these different types of side effects from the polio that have been identified.” she said.
“There are all of these different types of side effects from the polio that have been identified and they get worse as time goes on.”
Some of the side effects Brazeau has experienced include difficulty breathing where her breathing will stop entirely, and difficulty swallowing, where she can choke on her own saliva.
When she learned about the End Polio initiative she had a profound reaction.
“I knew how important it was that polio be eradicated and I cried because I knew how important it was,” said Brazeau.
According to EndPolio.org, there have been seven confirmed cases of polio this year. Rotary remains committed to seeing an end to the disease worldwide.
“Rotary members have contributed more than $2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries,” reads part of their goal.
The rest of the day included a lunch buffet followed by a team building presentation by Olympic curling gold medallist Joan McCusker.
Edwards says these district meetings are once a year, with another one coming up.
“We have this one in Lloydminster. We have another one in Edmonton in about two months time,” he said.
Edwards says Rotary International will have a convention this summer in Calgary with between 20,000 to 25,000 Rotarians descending on the city.
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