Last weekend a friend and I travelled to the edge of South Wales for a long weekend away. One day we went in search of pine trees in The Forest of Dean.
Polio is a disease were symptoms can include sore throats, raised body temperature, headaches, neck stiffness, abdominal pain, permanent paralysis and in extreme cases can lead to death. It can affect anyone of any age.
Polio has largely been eradicated across the world thanks to the polio vaccine. The World Health Organization estimates a 99% drop in the rates of polio infection since the 1980s.
The man responsible for development of the polio vaccine was Jonas Salk (photo left). This is his story.
Jonas Salk started his work on the polio vaccine in 1948 in America. It would take Salk and his team 7 years of hard work before they would see success.
The common thinking in the Scientific community was to use a live strain of the polio virus to develop a vaccine, but Salk had a different idea. He decided to use a inactive and weakened version of the polio virus, convinced that it was not only safer, but more likely to support the body to develop an immunity to the polio virus.
In 1955, after successful trials in both animals and children, Salk announced to the world that he had developed a vaccine for polio.
What is inspirational about this man, is not just that he developed the polio vaccine. But that he chose not to patent it. This meant that anyone could reproduce the polio vaccine without any payment to Salk.
At the time (and still to this day) America has an corporate obsession with patenting intellectual property, so that individuals can make money from their intellectual property. If Salk had patented his polio vaccine, it would have made him several billionaire dollars.
But Salk chose not to patent the polio vaccine. Instead, Salk wanted his vaccine spread as widely as possible, for the benefit of all people. Salk went against the capitalist culture of his country and focused on maximising the good the vaccine could do for humanity. It is for this reason, that I find this man truly inspirational.
Salk became a household name, but this was not something he wanted or welcomed. Salk stated in an interview in 1980:
It’s as if I’ve been a public property ever since, having to respond to external, as well as internal, impulses. … It’s brought me enormous gratification, opened many opportunities, but at the same time placed many burdens on me. It altered my career, my relationships with colleagues; I am a public figure, no longer one of them.
After the success of the polio vaccine Salk went back to work in his virology lab. Salk later worked on a vaccine for the HIV/AIDS virus, but was sadly unsuccessful in this endeavour.
I hope you enjoyed reading this inspirational story.
In the late 90s, a story gained international news coverage: The story of a young student who was tortured and then murdered for being gay in America. This story was the story of Matthew Shepard:
Matthew Shepard was a young student in Wyoming, America. He was also a gay man. On 6th October 1998, two men approached Matthew at a bar and after a discussion he agreed to get a lift home with them. Instead they beat him senseless resulting in multiple life-threatening injuries, tortured him and then left him to die in agony. They robbed Matthew, tied him to a fence and left him to die.
Matthew was left there, drifting in and out of consciousness for 18 hours. Matthew was then discovered by a cyclist who called the Police. Matthew was still alive, barely, but had slipped into a coma after being in what must have been in excruciating pain. Matthew had two skull fractures, which had left his brain too damaged to keep his heart beating and lungs breathing independently. In the days that followed, Matthew never regained consciousness and on 12th October 1998, at the age of just 21 years old he died.
The perpetrators of Matthew’s brutal and shocking murder admitted that his sexuality and their plans to rob him were their motivations for the attack and eventual murder. It later came out that they had pretended to be gay in order to gain his trust and persuade him to go with them. They both received life sentences without the opportunity for parole.
Matthews mother later set up The Matthew Shepard Foundation, in his memory. I’ve wanted to write Matthew’s story for a long time.
So, why now? Because with Donald Trump as President of America, I fear there will be another Matthew Shepard in America.
Donald Trump is already targeting the LGBT community with his rhetoric. And. He’s. Only. Just. Got. Power. I can only see Donald Trump’s behaviour getting worse.
I find it absolutely incredible that Donald Trump got into power once, let alone again. Donald Trump is a billionaire and influential man. I hope the American democracy isn’t as corrupt as it looks from the outside right now. I also hope, but highly doubt, that other leaders of the world will pull him up on his bad behaviour towards the LGBT community.
Write soon,
Antony
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Sunday 26 January 2025
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Antony Simpson - Author, Blogger, Nurse & Witch.
Author of eight books.
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