She was a trailblazer with a remarkable story – Sister Elizabeth Kenny, the Australian bush nurse who defied the medical fraternity to develop her own unorthodox methods to treat polio.
Australia was declared polio-free in 2000 thanks to the success of vaccines, but last century polio was one of the most feared diseases in the world.
Between 1930 and 1986, an estimated 20,000 to 40,000 Australian children developed paralytic polio.
During one of Australia's worst outbreaks in the 1930s, Sister Kenny's reputation grew for rehabilitating patients through her controversial technique of using hot baths, medical fomentations, discarding braces and calipers, and encouraging active movement.
This year marks 70 years since Sister Kenny's death.
While polio is now largely forgotten in Australia, those who live with its lingering effects have a constant reminder of the once-deadly scourge.
Regina's story
Toowoomba woman Regina Albion credits the self-taught nurse's revolutionary treatment for surviving polio after she contracted it at the age of 13.
It was 1954, and Toowoomba was still buzzing from Queen Elizabeth II's visit to the Garden City.
A visit from the doctor confirmed the worst.
"Dr Fenwick said, 'We'll do a spinal tap and check what it is, but I'm pretty sure you've got infantile paralysis of some form' … and that is something I will never forget," Mrs Albion said.
She said instead of being taken to hospital, her father treated her at home after learning of the Sister Kenny technique on his trips abroad for his machinery business.
"He certainly didn't believe in you being put in irons and kept straightened, you had to have the heat … the massage, I had to have as much movement as they could get in," she said.
For the next 18 months, Mrs Albion underwent rigorous rehabilitation and physical therapy.
"Dad hand-dug a pool with a neighbour, and they worked out how to heat the water and made this filtration system so it would be safe for me to be in the water," she said.
Mrs Albion said she eventually regained enough strength to walk again and returned to school.
"I don't walk too straight, but I walk and I'm still on my feet and that's the main thing," she said.
International acclaim
Sister Kenny reported successfully treating polio cases in the Darling Downs region as early as 1911.
Ridiculed by the conservative medical profession at the time, she remained steadfast in her technique and established several treatment clinics along the east coast.
By 1940, she had landed in the United States, where her methods were eventually accepted, and she oversaw the establishment of the Sister Kenny Institute in Minneapolis in 1942.
While she endured many critics in her lifetime, Sister Kenny remained a revered figure in her small hometown of Nobby on the Darling Downs.
Affectionately referred to as "Nobby's daughter", residents have ensured her legacy lived on through a museum honouring her life's work.
Sister Kenny Memorial Museum Project Committee secretary Trish Wallen said the museum served as a reminder of how hard Sister Kenny worked to make a difference to the lives of those inflicted with polio.
"It was a battle for her, but she knew she had the remedy," Ms Wallen said.
The committee used donations earlier this year to digitally remaster an original 1940s instructional film demonstrating her methods, before it perished.
"It smelt so badly of vinegar, and we were told if it smelt like that, it was too far gone," Ms Wallen said.
Living with the aftermath
The emergence of new cases of polio in the US, UK and Israel has prompted fresh warnings from international health authorities about the importance of vaccination.
For Mrs Albion, the rollout of Australia's polio vaccine came two years too late, leaving her to live with the disease's lasting effects.
She is one of thousands who are now experiencing post-polio syndrome — a condition that affects the nerves, muscles and ligaments, decades after a person's initial polio infection.
Despite her daily battle with pain and mobility, Mrs Albion said she was forever thankful for Sister Kenny's perseverance and dedication to polio sufferers.
"I know that without receiving her technique, I wouldn't have had the life I've got," she said.
