CPOY

Award of Excellence: THE PATIENS OF POLIO

In the years 1952-53, a violent polio epidemic rolled over Denmark - the worst ever in Europe. Around 7,000 Danes became ill – the vast majority of them children. Just under 350 of them died, and the survivors suffered irreversible paralysis in their bodies. Today, the children of the polio epidemic have grown old. Their lives have been marked by an illness that disabled them, but also made them resilient.

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Winnie Hessen, 78-years-old
February 24, 2023

“I was 5 years old when I got polio. The nurses had to tell my parents that they were not allowed to visit me in the hospital anymore because I cried inconsolably every time. I had a porcelain doll that I was very fond of. But when I finally got home from the hospital, the first thing I did was smash its feet."

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