OFFERS LIFE

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 161, 8 June 1929, Page 3

OFFERS LIFE

TO S'AVE CHILDREN. WOMAN’S REMARKABLE LETTER. A remarkable offer has been made by a Sydney woman in a letter addressed to the Minister of Health in New South Wales (Dr. Arthur). She says that she is willing to be inoculated witli the germs of infantile paralysis, so that serum can be obtained from her for the treatment of children who are suffering from this dread disease. Her offer was no doubt prompted by the fact that there has been an increase in the number of children who have been stricken by the disease, and increased difficulty in securing serum from which such good results have been obtained in the past. “Why not inoculate me with the disease in order to extract the serum,” says this woman in her letter—a woman of Polish descent who has spent many years in Australia, and who seems anxious to do something useful for the country of her adoption. “If I were to die,” she says, “surely it would bo worth while to sacrifice one of my age rather than the health and lives of little children. I make this offer willingly, because I understand that the serum is the only cure, and it is unobtainable. I am wondering if this antitoxin can be artificially made. I have reared my family, and I am not needed at home. I could be inoculated with the disease from some child. If I contracted it I could be treated, and the hospitals could get as much serum from me as they cared to extract. Even if it incapacitated me for life, of killed me in the long run, the sacrifice would be worth while.”

The woman told Dr. Arthur that she could never forget that Australia helped to feed the starving people of her native Poland, and her mother’s country, Belgium, during the war. “In what better way,” she asked, “could 1 honour the National Day of Poland than by thus serving Australia and the country of my five children. I have not the means of paying for such an illness, and I could not risk giving it to others at home. Therefore I would have to be treated in a public hospital. I hope, doctor, you will help me to serve the tiny Anzacs by bringing the sunshine of hope to the parents of the stricken children.”

The writer of this amazing letter is known personally to Dr. Arthur. It is not. the first occasion she has displayed great interest in child welfare, for as a member of the committee of the Sunshine Club she has done a great deal in arranging seaside holidays for countless Australian youngsters. Dr. Arthur is convinced by his knowledge of the woman that the offer is a perfectly genuine one, and he has been greatly impressed by the spirit of sacrifice that permeates it. However, an important principle is at stake, and he has not rushed in and hurriedly accepted the offer. But he has not rejected it. Ho is giving the letter the most _ serious consideration, and will be guided by expert medical advice in reaching a decision.