From war torn Africa to Brisbane support group

Inala’s Harris Jackson has a life that reads like a movie script. With Post Polio Awareness Week scheduled next month (3-9 August), Harris explained how as a seven-year-old boy in Liberia, he was diagnosed with polio, which made his left leg bend permanently at a painful 90 degree angle.

At age 15, he was told his leg would have to be amputated.

“I didn’t want to live while a part of me was buried somewhere else,” Harris said.

Extraordinarily, Harris regularly visited the home of the then Liberian president, and developed a rapport with a security guard, who eventually organised a meeting between Harris and the president’s wife.

She sponsored Harris to travel to France and receive six operations that not only saved his leg, but moved it back to its natural position.

The political unrest and ongoing war in Harris’s home country led to him spending 15 years in exile in Ghana, before he came to Australia with refugee status in 2006.

“In Africa, people who have a disability are overlooked and looked down upon,” Harris said.

“They’re hidden away and not encouraged to be a part of their community, which is very, very sad.

“Now I’m in Australia and people with polio or other disabilities are able to go out and work and be a part of society.”

Harris has recently joined the Brisbane Post Polio Support Group, a community group coordinated by the Spinal Injuries Association for people inflicted with the polio virus during the epidemic in the 1950s, and who are now experiencing Post Polio Syndrome or the late effects of polio.

Symptoms are varied but include muscle weakness and extreme fatigue as well as sleep and breathing difficulties.

During Post Polio Awareness Week, world-renowned Post Polio Syndrome expert Dr William DeMayo, from Philadelphia, USA, will share his insight into the condition via a video conference at the Spinal Injuries Association’s Woolloongabba office on Wednesday, 5 August at 10.30am.

Dr DeMayo said as Post Polio Syndrome became more recognised in both medical circles and in the general community, an increasing amount of people worldwide were being diagnosed with the condition.

“I’m looking forward to sharing what I know about the syndrome with a Queensland audience, as I’m aware there are six Post Polio Support Groups operating in regions throughout the state,” Dr DeMayo said.

“By providing the audience with practical information about the condition, I hope to make a difference in their lives that will assist in easing the pain of Post Polio Syndrome.”

Spinal Injuries Association CEO Mark Henley said it was a real coup for the organisation to host the live video conference with Dr DeMayo.

“Because Post Polio Syndrome and the late effects of polio are still relatively unknown, there are many people in the community with misconceptions, or who may not realise they have one of these conditions,” Mr Henley said.

“And for people like Harris who know they have the condition, Dr DeMayo’s knowledge will give them practical advice that will assist them with ongoing maintenance of the syndrome.”

Mr Henley said Dr DeMayo’s live video conference was open to the general public. To register your interest, please phone the Association on (07) 3391 2044.

For more information about the Association’s Post Polio Support Groups, please visit www.spinal.com.au.

Issued 15 July.