Book by kaitlyn ecklund

Robert Matthews Resilience in the Face of Polio

Kaitlyn Ecklund

Robert Matthews Resilience in the Face of Polio

Kaitlyn Ecklund

Dedication I dedicate this book to my grandfather, Robert Matthews, whose determination, resilience and selflessness I admire greatly and hope that one day I can exude these qualities as well as he does.

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Acknowledgements I couldn’t have created this book without the help of my teachers and peers at Freestyle Academy. I want to thank Mr. Greco and Ms. Parkinson especially for the long hours spent after school helping all of the students and making sure their books were ready to print on time! I also want to thank my grandma, Marian Ecklund, for helping me edit this text. And of course, I’m very grateful to Robert and Charlene Matthews for sharing their story.

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Robert Matthews

Family Life 23

Introduction 11

Resilience in the Face of Polio

Preface 9

The Diagnosis 15

Conclusion 33

Present Day 29

About the Author 36

Works Cited 35

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Preface I decided on this Documentary topic because I realized how little I really knew about my grandfather’s life story. He’s lived through some incredible things and I didn’t want to one day realize it was too late to learn more about him and his life. I was excited to learn more about my family and my grandfather and his past, but I was also worried about wanting to make him and the rest of my family proud of the final product.

I want the reader to be able to learn about the history of polio in the U.S and understand the importance of getting vaccinated. In addition, I want them to approach their family members and friends with questions to begin a conversation about their lives.

I hope this documentary inspires others to take advantage of time with their family members. I’m really grateful that I’ve been able to do this project about my grandfather and was able to learn more about his life in the process.

I’m glad I won’t have to worry about having regrets looking back and being left wondering about my loved ones’ lives and what they were like. Remember to take advantage of the time you have now because you won’t be able to get it back.

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Introduction I

n the early 1900s and through the 50s, polio was the disease on the rise and was seemingly lurking around every corner, just waiting for more victims to fall into its trap. No one knew how polio spread from person to person. That’s what made it so scary and dangerous. There were many theories as to how it was spread: through ice cream, flies, sneezes, coughs, rats, public swimming pools – anything one could think of that could carry a disease. Polio seemed to be most prevalent among children, which kept parents on edge at all times. The number of cases rose significantly in the summer months, and, as a result, all summer activities were considered suspects. Kids were kept indoors and forbidden from their favorite activities, such as: swimming, going to the movies, playing with their friends and even eating ice cream. Researchers noticed a correlation between the increase in the number of polio cases during the summer and the amount of ice cream bought. With no other ideas as to how polio spread, ice cream was named the culprit behind it all - at least for a while. But as time went on, more adults began to be infected too, debunking the previous theory that ice cream caused polio.

As polio epidemic spread across the nation, the search for a vaccine became more and more of a national priority. A polio vaccine was the only way to stop the spread of the disease and to end the continuous outbreaks.

While some understood the importance of the issue, there were also some, who were a part of the Anti-Vaccine Movement. These individuals believed vaccines don’t stop the spread of diseases and exposed children unnecessarily to more dangers.

The 1955 Polio Epidemic in Boston, Massachusetts was the last large outbreak of the disease before the vaccine was released to the public later that same year. During this epidemic, Robert Matthews worked at Camp Brookwoods which was situated on the border of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He had no idea that his life would be forever altered by polio that summer.

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“For the first few days I was there, they would come in and the doctor would say, ‘How are you doing?’ And I would say, ‘I’m breathing fine. I’m okay. I don’t need anything.’ But I could only whisper. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t swallow, couldn’t lift my head off the bed. I knew there was something going on but, I was surviving and I was breathing. I couldn’t eat anything or swallow anything - just had IVs.”

- Robert Matthews

Robert Matthews high schoool graduation photo

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Robert Matthews and his younger brother at Camp Brookwoods

The Diagnosis A

fter finishing his freshman year of college, Robert Matthews thought the only thing he’d have to worry about that summer was not getting sunburned while enjoying lazy days at the lake - he never expected polio. This was his second year working at Camp Brookwoods as a counselor, but he had grown up going to Brookwoods his entire childhood.

Robert’s journey with polio began that summer when he got what seemed to be a simple virus. However, after a couple days it led to high fevers, nausea and vomiting.

It was only then that the camp staff realized he needed better treatment as he was unable to keep any food or liquid down. On July 29,1955, the camp staff transported Robert by car to Huggins Hospital in the small town of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.

Robert’s mom, Marion Matthews, recorded all of the significant family events in her daily devotional, Streams in the Desert. Now that she has passed away, her well worn devotional book has become an important historical reference for their family.

She recorded all the dates and events that happened during the summer months of 1955. Robert’s parents arrived to visit him at Huggins Hospital and brought him some ice cream. As he was eating it, the ice cream began to come out of his nose.

“So they told the nurse or doctors who were around and they immediately knew what the problem was because there was a big epidemic of polio in Boston at the time” (R. Matthews). They feared he had bulbar polio and may soon need the assistance of an iron lung to help him breathe. An iron lung is “a device for artificial respiration in which rhythmic alternations in the air pressure in a chamber surrounding a patient’s chest force air into and out of the lungs” (“Iron Lung”).

As Huggins hospital didn’t have iron lungs, Robert was transported by ambulance on Sunday, July 31, 1955, to Elliott Hospital. It was a larger hospital located an hour away in Manchester, New Hampshire. He remained a patient at Elliott Hospital until he was discharged home on August 24,1955.

The Mayo Clinic defines polio as: “a contagious illness that in its most severe form causes nerve injury leading to paralysis, difficulty breathing and sometimes death.” Although polio in its most severe form can result in death, they are many who contract polio and have no idea that they ever had it because they never had any signs or symptoms.

Polio can be paralytic or non-paralytic. For those who contract the non-paralytic form of polio, they show virus-like symptoms of: fever, sore throat, headache, vomiting, muscle weakness, stiffness and tenderness. These symptoms will persist for up to 10 days. Those with paralytic polio, experience the same symptoms as those with non-paralytic polio; however, after about a week, symptoms extend to: reflexive loss, severe muscle pain and “loose and floppy” limbs. These symptoms show that the individual is in the early stages of paralysis and is losing control of their extremities (“Polio”).

In the case of Robert Matthews, he contracted bulbar polio. Bulbar polio affects the muscles connected to the cranial nerves, including the pharynx, soft palate and the larynx (Daggett). It largely affects the patient’s respiratory system and their ability to breathe, eat and swallow.

Author Kathryn Black, whose mother contracted bulbospinal polio in the 1950s, 15

wrote, “All that would have been bad enough, but the virus worked at the bulbar cells of her central nervous system also, causing severe respiratory difficulties by another route. When the poliovirus heads for the brain, it can attack cranial nerves that control eye and facial muscles and interfere with chewing, which causes victims considerable difficulty but is not life threatening. More commonly, however, bulbar polio attacks cranial nerves that operate the pharynx, the soft palate, and the larynx, making swallowing, breathing, and speaking difficult or impossible, and endangering the life of victims” (Black). The later description is what Robert Matthews went through while fighting the virus for the first few weeks and what has persisted over time.

Robert reflected on his admission to Elliott hospital, “For the first few days I was there, they would come in and the doctor would say, ‘How are you doing?’ And I would say, ‘I’m breathing fine. I’m okay. I don’t need anything.’ But I could only whisper. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t swallow, couldn’t lift my head off the bed. I knew there was something going on but, I was surviving and I was breathing.

I couldn’t eat anything or swallow anything - just had IVs” (R. Matthews).

During this time of uncertainty, both Robert and his parents, John and Marion Matthews, relied heavily on their faith. Robert, growing up in a Christian home, attended church regularly and at an early age chose to follow Jesus. He knew God had a plan for him and would not abandon him during this scary time. He remembers his mother praying and asking God to give her a sign of whether or not Robert would live. She had just read the story in the Bible from Judges 6:36-40 where Gideon asked God for a sign in his time of need and Marian decided to do the same. She prayed and believed that if Robert’s cerebral spinal cell count lowered the following day, he would survive; but, if it went higher, he would die. The next day they waited with great anticipation and when the cerebral spinal cell count was lower, she praised God. She believed that God would heal her son and from that point forward, she had peace knowing Robert would survive polio.

Progressively, it became easier for him to breathe and the doctors decided that an iron lung wouldn’t be necessary at the moment. However, it still remained outside of his hospital room in case of an emergency. To this day, Robert thanks God that the iron lung remained unused outside his hospital room. As he began to recover, he took walks around the hospital floor for exercise.

Everyday, he would see individuals who were confined in their iron lungs and the next day they would be gone. This only strengthened his resolve to defeat polio and to never be placed in an iron lung.

He was in the hospital for three weeks while he was getting used to the paralysis that affected his pharynx and neck muscles. Returning to normal life after being in the hospital was a challenge for him so he went home first before going back to college. Robert recalled that he was able to go back to school after eight to ten weeks, 16

recovering at home after returning from the hospital. During that time at home, while he was still getting used to the changes he was undergoing, he studied for six weeks trying to catch up and learn all the material he had missed while being sick. He returned to college and took the quarterly finals, which he passed with flying colors due to his perseverance and dedication.

However, those six weeks at home weren’t easy. He still felt weak and had to begin getting used to the sensation of muscles that weren’t strong enough to support normal swallowing and breathing.

The difficulties of returning to normal life didn’t end with academics. There were many social instances where he was reminded of the changes that polio had subjected him to. He reminisced, “When I went back to college, I had a big surprise one of the first days back in the cafeteria.

I stepped out of the line and bent over to get a drink of water and the water came out my nose! That was not socially acceptable. But the other thing was that one time I choked while I was eating in the cafeteria (since breathing and swallowing were difficult), and I had to throw up whatever was in my mouth. I wasn’t vomiting, I just had to clear my pharynx. But that was really embarrassing” (R. Matthews). Losing control of his muscles sporadically was something that Robert eventually began to get used to over time. It was never pleasant or enjoyable, but there was nothing he could do but press on to make it through.

After completing his undergraduate degree in Chemistry and graduating from Wheaton College, Robert attended Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia where he graduated as a doctor of medicine. For his internship, he moved to San Diego, where the weather was warmer and he believed he’d stay healthier. In California, he didn’t get as many upper respiratory infections due to the more stable climate. Before contracting polio, he planned to become a dermatologist. However, at the time, being a dermatologist meant working alone in a one man practice. So if he got sick, there was no way that he could see his patients and therefore it was no longer a realistic goal for him to pursue.

Reflecting on how polio changed his career path, Robert deduces that, “I probably would’ve taken a different course in medicine. I might’ve done medical missions work, at least part time or short term. But those are just impossible [to do now after polio].

I was limited in what I could do physically, so ophthalmology was a good fit for me.

It wasn’t terribly rigorous physically or where you had terrible hours or that sort of thing” (R. Matthews). After deciding to pursue ophthalmology, he was accepted into Stanford as a part of their Ophthalmology Residency Program and after graduating went on to work in one of his clinical professor’s local practice along with two other doctors. “. . .for the rest of my practice, these two guys were my “replacements” and backups, so if I got sick they would cover for me. I never realized (looking into the future) that that would be a need. But I look back and think ‘oh my goodness’ that was a really big deal” (R. Matthews).

During his time at Stanford, he met his wife Charlene on a blind date. They went on to get married in 1966 and lived in Menlo Park as Robert continued to work as an ophthalmologist and Charlene as a dental hygienist.

In 1969, they moved to Los Altos to settle down and start a family while also being closer to Robert’s work.

On April 3, 1969, they had their first child, a daughter named Karen. During this time, Robert got a respiratory illness that he fought for over six months. He recalls, “That was grim because I couldn’t work steadily and we had just bought a new house. So we had a new house, a new baby and we were moving from our Menlo Park apartment to our Los Altos house and that all was a really grim time. I can remember sitting in the living room on the step and thinking, ‘What am I gonna do?’ I was worried about: ‘What happens if I can’t work? Or die? What’s going to happen to Charlene and the baby?’ So I determined - I remember it to this day - I am going to put away every dime I can so that if - when - something happens to me, they’ll be okay. That was the grim reality. That was very discouraging, six months of off and on illness, all because my respiratory system can’t cough stuff out and get rid of it” (R. Matthews).

It’s true that this is the “grim reality” for many with polio, specifically for those with bulbar polio. Many patients, after defeating the initial poliovirus when they contract it, go on years later to experience symptoms that stem from the initial issues that they had when they were first sick. This condition is called post-polio syndrome.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke describes it as such: “Most often, polio survivors start to experience gradual new weakening in muscles that were previously affected by the polio infection. The most common symptoms include slowly progressive muscle weakness, fatigue (both generalized and muscular), and a gradual decrease in the size of muscles (muscle atrophy). Pain from joint degeneration and increasing skeletal deformities such as scoliosis (curvature of the spine) is common and may precede the weakness and muscle atrophy” (“Post-Polio Syndrome Fact Sheet”).

Robert’s daughter, Karen, has noted over the years that he has shown more signs of post-polio syndrome. Going back to her days in college as a nursing student, she recalls, “I do remember being struck with the reality as we studied polio that many people, as they got older, started getting post-polio syndrome. I remember thinking, ‘Oh gosh. What’s that going to mean for my dad?’ Now he does have more signs of post-polio syndrome and he is having further paralysis.” (Ecklund) Karen also remembers her dad sharing comments from his Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) doctor after he examined Robert’s larynx and pharynx. “The doctor said, ‘Wow. If you had paralysis any other way, like just a little bit more to the left or the right, you would not be able to swallow or breathe’” (Ecklund). When Karen heard this, she realized how thankful they should be that God spared her dad from needing a feeding tube or an iron lung.

July & August 1955 31

28 Robert first gets sick at camp

29 Robert gets taken to Huggens Hospital 18

Robert gets transferred to Elliott Hospital in Manchester, NH

12 Robert stands up again for the first time since getting sick

13 Robert eats “real” food (baby food) without difficulty for the first time

24 Robert comes home from the hosptial

“I think anytime you grow up in a family, you think your family is normal and everyone else lives the same way you do.�

- Karen Ecklund

Robert and Charlene Matthews in front of their family home

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Karen Ecklund

Family Life

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n October 7, 1971, his second daughter Kathleen was born, completing went on camping trips, ski trips with family friends and made many trips out to the their family. As their daughter began going to school they became more East Coast to visit their family and Amish friends. She never felt deprived during her exposed to everyday colds and other illnesses. This caused them to childhood due to her father’s health conditions and had many opportunities to enjoy

become more conscientious about limiting contact with other individuals during life with her family. heightened seasons of flu and pneumonia. His oldest daughter Karen told me, “When

It wasn’t until his daughters were in middle school, when Robert’s health became

I was a child, if we were sick, we were pretty much confined to our room. We would more of an uncertainty and that things began to change. Both Karen and Charlene have our meals brought to us. We never were allowed out into the family room or remember instances where Robert was unable to breathe and they didn’t know what anything like that. [We] had to stay completely away from my dad. So we were kind of to do. These experiences have stuck with them and continue to have a lasting impact quarantined. If friends were sick, we didn’t go over and play at their houses. As he got today. older and more [paranoid], I remember he told us that he had a deal with his patients.

This impact was noticeable when Karen shared, “One of the scary things I can

He told all of his patients that if they had a cold or upper respiratory infection, he remember is sitting at the dinner table and [my dad] having a laryngeal spasm and he wanted them to cancel and reschedule when they were healthy. He would be happy to couldn’t breathe. He sounded like a horse, he sounded like ‘unghhh’ trying to breathe see them any other time, free of charge, but he couldn’t risk getting sick” (Ecklund). and he couldn’t because his larynx was vibrating uncontrollably and it was cutting The secretaries at his office were also very protective and would turn patients away if off his airway. It was very scary. To this day, as a nurse, I always like patients that they arrived sick.

have good open airways and I feel anxious if someone’s having a hard time breathing”

Interestingly, the scenarios did not seem strange to Karen. As she reflected back (Ecklund). on her childhood she said, “I think anytime you grow up in a family, you think your

For Charlene, it was a matter of wondering if one day she’d be put in the position

family is normal and everyone else lives the same way you do” (Ecklund). The Matthews of having to save her husband’s life or watch him suffocate at the dinner table. She

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shared, “I know [Karen] would totally panic when it happened, along with me. . .I used to have conversations [with him] about what would I do? Would I have to get a knife and literally open him up? It sounds so strange but we did have those conversations” (C. Matthews). As these problems persisted, Robert realized that something needed to change if he wanted to be able to live a more comfortable life and one where he was more present in the future.

In 1980, Robert’s health declined to the point where he was getting dangerously ill with each new aliment and it was taking him longer and longer to recover. The polio didn’t allow him to cough or clear his throat at all, so respiratory infections were especially difficult for him to get over. On top of that, because he got bronchitis so often, he became resistant to many antibiotics so he had to monitor and pace how much of what kind of medications he was taking whenever he got ill. The fact that Robert was only in his thirties and already building up resistance to antibiotics, made his doctors very cautious about how to treat him whenever he got sick. They tried to used different antibiotics and only when absolutely necessary for recovery.

At this point, Robert decided along with his ENT doctor, Bill Baxter, that it was necessary to get a tracheotomy. A tracheotomy is an incision made into one’s windpipe to relieve pressure or obstruction in their airway. This addition made Robert’s life much easier as he was finally able to cough and clear his throat for the first time in decades.

Robert looks back on the tracheotomy as a life changing experience and one that “really gave [him] a new lease on life. Life was just totally different” (R. Matthews). In terms of how he felt following the procedure, he exclaimed to his doctor, “‘Boy, Bill this is really good. I can cough things out. My bronchitis cleared! It’s incredible!’ We realized that this was a keeper. Bill and I decided, let’s not let [the trach] seal up. Let’s keep it [open] so that’s the story...and I’ve worn it ever since that, so close to 40 years now” (R. Matthews).

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Robert and Charlene Mtthews and Karen Ecklund in their backyard

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“My wife, Charlene, says that ‘Polio patients are fighters.’ And I don’t know if that’s true, but I figured I’m not going to go down easy. I’m going to keep fighting.”

- Robert Matthews

Robert Matthews

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Charlene Matthews

Present Day

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hen asked if there were times where he felt sorry for himself or felt resentful for what happened to him, Robert was candid about how he felt. “You say ‘oh’ and feel sorry for yourself and say it’s unfair and ‘here we go again’, but then you look back over your long life and this happened around or more than 60 years ago, and I’ve survived bronchitis, at least 125 times over all these years (I used to get it three times a year almost) and two or three pneumonias” (R.

Matthews).

After all these years of fighting various respiratory illnesses and colds, he and his wife have a phrase that they share between them: “My wife, Charlene, says that ‘Polio patients are fighters.’ And I don’t know if that’s true, but I figured I’m not going to go down easy. I’m going to keep fighting” (R. Matthews).

That’s exactly what he’s done. He’s fought through it all and has lived a full and prosperous life where he has no regrets. Obviously it was unfortunate that he contracted polio to begin with, but he says that he’s had a good life since polio and had a good life beforehand as well.

On March 26, 1953, Dr. Jonas Salk announced nationally that he had created a successful polio vaccine and that it would begin to be distributed and administered across the country. The vaccine became readily available to the public a few weeks after Robert had fallen ill. The idea that a solution was so close, I would think, would be almost devastating in a sense. Can you imagine getting sick with a disease that had no cure or vaccine to help prevent its spread, then becoming a part of its last epidemic and seeing its eradication in America while you lie there suffering from it? When I asked Robert about his thoughts on it, he just chuckled, looked at me and said, “But what can you do? That’s life” (R. Matthews).

His response surprised me. If it were me I feel as though I would’ve felt cheated or at least the tiniest bit resentful at no one in particular, but just be asking: Why me?

Robert stated that he doesn’t reflect much on the proximity of the two events but is glad that there are vaccines now and that polio is no longer a problem in the States.

However, he did share his thoughts on the Anti-Vaccine Movement and those who stand against the use of vaccines to prevent diseases from spreading. He said, “...What’s crazy is that there’s anti-vaccine idiots roaming America and in the Silicon Valley, where people should be smarter, who reject that. They ought to consider the implications 29

of their idiocy” (R. Matthews). Although some may interpret his words as too harsh, I agree with him. I do think that it’s completely ridiculous that there are those who don’t believe that we should have vaccines.

The number of individuals, who consider themselves a part of the Anti-Vaccine Movement, increased after The Lancet, a general medical journal, published scientist Andrew Wakefield’s study stating that there was a link between vaccines and autism. Andrew Wakefield was the lead author and the main figure of the Anti-Vaccine Movement.

However, in 2005, the Anti-Vaccine Movement lost much of its credibility when it was discovered that Wakefield had faked the data he published. In 2010, The Lancet fully revoked Andrew Wakefield’s findings.

Wakefield had more allegations against him of fraud, ethical violations and scientific misrepresentation - which all led to having his license to practice medicine revoked in the U.K (“Vaccines Don’t Cause Autism”). According to Dr. Jonathan D. Quick and Heidi Larson, “It took nearly two decades for the UK immunization rates to recover.

By the end, UK families had experienced more than 12,000 cases of measles, hundreds of hospitalizations — many with serious complications — and at least three deaths”.

That example is exactly why we need vaccines. Once people started to disregard vaccines, immediately, preventable diseases surged back and caused many to fall ill and even some to die.

Since then, there have been multiple studies debunking Wakefield’s theory. However, some parents still hold tight to the idea that vaccines do more harm than good. It is clear we need vaccines. The Sabin Vaccine Institute writes, “Since Wakefield’s study was published in 1998, extensive scientific literature has amassed debunking any associations between vaccines and autism. For example, in 2012, an analysis of 10 independent studies including more than 1.26 million children found no relationship between autism and vaccination in general or the MMR vaccine specifically. This same study also found no link between autism and mercury or thimerosal – a mercury-based preservative that was removed from all childhood vaccines in the United States in 2001 due to now-disproven concerns that it might be harmful to children….Hundreds of independent studies conducted over the last 15 years have come to the same conclusion: vaccines do not cause autism. Given this substantial body of evidence, the scientific community agrees that that neither vaccines nor their ingredients are linked to the development of autism” (“Vaccines Don’t Cause Autism.”).

However, even today, the public seems to continue to ignore the facts. Our current administration has elected a vaccine czar that has had a history of being a supporter of the Anti-Vaccine Movement, and our President, Donald Trump, has fallen for the ‘autism-is-caused-by-vaccines’ theory. He first voiced his thoughts in 2014 when he tweeted, “Healthy young child goes to doctor, gets pumped with massive shot of many vaccines, doesn’t feel good and changes - AUTISM. Many such cases!” (Kluger). Then again in a 2015 presidential debate, Donald Trump stated, “You take this little beautiful baby, and you pump — I mean, it looks like just it’s meant for a horse and not for a child...We had so many instances [in which] a child had a vaccine, and came back and a week back had a tremendous fever, got very very sick, and now is autistic” ( ).

These theories and ideas are ludicrous; and for those like Robert, who didn’t have the opportunity to be vaccinated - a punch to the gut. When parents choose not to vaccinate their children or themselves, they are putting everyone they come in contact with at risk. It’s unacceptable and selfish behavior. Especially those with weakened immune systems, complicated medical histories and previous problems, this puts them even more at risk and forces them to avoid certain aspects of life.

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Robert and Charlene Matthews in front of their home

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There are millions around the world who don’t have access to vaccines. They can’t go to work because they are sick and unhealthy. They don’t grow old and aren’t able to see their children grow up. They spend their days indoors to avoid infection instead of playing outside. They have no chance to live a long full life.

Conclusion I

f I were to use one word to describe Robert Matthews, it would be, resilient. The definition of resilient is “(of a person or animal) able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions”. Throughout the years, Robert Matthews overcame a large variety of illnesses, a tracheotomy and the general wear and tear withstood after 81 years of life. But he always bounced back.

Robert’s faith has been a huge factor for him as he’s worked through the emotional and physical challenges of polio and and now post-polio syndrome as well. Throughout my interviews with Robert, he repeatedly referred back to his faith as his rock during his lifetime. His daily Bible readings have been a constant source of comfort and encouragement to him and his family during many challenging times and have reminded him that God loves him and has a purpose for his life. He has realized that some of the greatest joys in life may not have happened without getting polio. If he hadn’t had polio, he would have never moved to California where he met his wife and had his two daughters. And without Karen being born, his three grandchildren would not be part of his life either. Knowing this, has made it easier to accept his journey with polio.

When I asked Robert if he had any plans, hopes or dreams for the future, I was surprised by his answer - after all, he’s 81 years old and has lived a full life in spite of polio. He excitedly shared that, he’s in the midst of writing an autobiography about his life, plans to learn Spanish with his wife, and will take a course about American Law - just because he’s always been curious as to how it works.

I hope the reader’s views on vaccinations will be challenged after learning about Robert Matthews’ life and think twice before choosing not to vaccinate. Hopefully people will consider the dangers of the disease a far greater risk than the vaccination itself. We are fortunate to live during a time when polio, as well as many other illnesses, is preventable through a simple vaccine.

I admire Robert Matthews’ resilience and faith through all the ups and downs of his life. I am grateful for this project which has helped me learn more about him and his journey. But more than anything, I am grateful to have the privilege of calling him my grandfather. Robert never gave up and has continued to stay strong through it all. His resilience is something to be admired.

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Marion Matthews’ devotional and bible 34

Works Cited Black, Kathryn. In the Shadow of Polio: a Personal and Social History. Addison-Wesley, 1997.

Daggett, Richard. “Polio Overview with an Emphasis on Bulbar Polio.” Polio Survivors Association.

Rancho Los Amigos Post-Polio Support Group, 22 Mar. 2014, Rancho Los Amigos Post-Polio Support Group, Rancho Los Amigos Post-Polio Support Group. http://www.polioassociation.org/Bulbar_Presentation.pdf Ecklund, Karen. Personal interview. 25 March 2018.

Kluger, Jeffrey. “Donald Trump Trump Chooses Robert Kennedy as Vaccine Chair.” Time, Time, 10 Jan. 2017, http://time.com/4630675/robert-f-kennedy-jr-donald-trump-vaccines/.

Levine, Susan. “50 Years After Vaccine, Polio’s Legacy Endures: Achievement Prompts a Look Back, Forward.” Boston.com, The Boston Globe, 12 Apr. 2005, http://archive.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/04/12/50_years_after_vaccine_polios_ legacy_endures/.

Matthews, Charlene. Personal Interview. 11 March 2018.

Matthews, Robert. Personal Interview. 4 March 2018.

---Personal Interview. 11 March 2018.

---Personal Interview. 31 March 2018.

“Iron Lung.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, 26 Apr. 2018, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/iron%20lung.

MPH, Jonathan D. Quick MD, and Heidi Larson. “The Vaccine-Autism Myth Started 20 Years Ago. Here’s Why It Endures Today.” Time, Time, 28 Feb. 2018, http://time.com/5175704/andrew-wakefield-vaccine-autism/.

“Post-Polio Syndrome Fact Sheet.” National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 9 May 2017, https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Post-Polio-S yndrome-Fact-Sheet.

“Polio.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 9 Dec. 2017, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/polio/symptoms-causes/syc-20376512.

“Vaccines Don’t Cause Autism.” Sabin Vaccine Institute, Sabin Vaccine Institute, 26 Jan. 2017, www.sabin.org/updates/blog/vaccines-dont-cause-autism-0.

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About the Author

Kaitlyn Ecklund is a junior at Mountain View High School and Freestyle Academy. She lives in Los Altos, California with her mom, dad and younger brother and sister. She loves hanging out with her friends, traveling, reading and binging The Office. Having lived overseas in the past she hopes to return in the future, using the skills she’s learned at Freestyle to educate people around the world of other circumstances.

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Robert Matthews Resilience in the Face of Polio

Kaitlyn Ecklund