Ann Lee Hussey immunizing a child against polio in Chad.

By Ann Lee Hussey, polio survivor and member of the Rotary Club of Portland Sunrise, Maine, USA. Hussey is one of 12 Rotarians being honored 5 April at the White House as a Champion of Change.

As a 17-month-old toddler, I contracted polio. Burning up with fever, I was paralyzed from the waist down. It was July 1955, only three months after Jonas Salk’s vaccine was released to the public. I was lucky to regain the use of most but not all of my leg muscles. Today, after multiple surgeries, braces, and physical therapy, I am able to walk with limitations.

My husband introduced me to Rotary, and I soon discovered they were leading the effort to eradicate polio. With my interest peaked, I took my first international trip and it forever changed my life. I traveled to India to participate in National Immunization Days (NID) in January 2001. People crawling on the ground, severely crippled from polio roamed the streets to beg. The sight of young children, their knees and hands thick with callouses, broke my heart. That was my Rotary moment, realizing I had to help prevent other children from suffering the  same fate.

I am leading my sixth team of volunteers to Nigeria for my 21st NID. This 15 person group will travel through Nigeria 8 December to 20 December.

I am excited to be returning, anxious to visit with friends, and eager to visit my club’s project. My main focus remains on vaccinating as many children as I can, looking for changes from my last visit. But more importantly, we are there to thank the workers who carry out these campaigns regularly all year.

I am hopeful that the presence of concerned visitors, who spent their own money to visit, motivates them to do more. The number of cases of polio in Nigeria was declining, but is now experiencing the largest increase in the world, with 112 reported cases. Though that number may seem small to some, active transmission of the wild polio virus puts large segments of the population at risk and increases the risk of cases being exported to neighboring countries.

Rotary and our global polio eradication partners, WHO, UNICEF, and CDC, are strengthening their efforts and are placing greater demands upon Nigeria to finish the job. The recent rise in polio cases places the entire world in jeopardy. It is a global emergency. Our goal must be achieved for the health of future generations of all children.

I am confidant my team members will better understand the challenges we face and become stronger advocates when they depart Nigeria. Their lives will also be forever changed.

My journey with polio will continue. There are many more steps for all of us, as we follow the path to the end of polio. Will you help?

• Learn more about Rotary’s efforts to eradicate polio
• Be part of the effort to make the World’s Biggest Commercial  at www.endpolionow.org
• Purchase End Polio Now, an album of songs performed by Rotary polio ambassadors, available as a digital download through iTunes and as a CD from shop.rotary.org.
• Read blog posts from other polio survivors