DAVENPORT, Iowa — A 95-year-old polio survivor spoke with fourth graders at Adams Elementary in Davenport on Friday.
Beverly Gustafson, a student's great-grandmother who lives in Elridge, spoke to a class reading Peg Kehret's book "Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio."
She was diagnosed with polio in the early 1950s when she was 23 years old and had two daughters. Her late husband also had polio and was in an iron lung before he began using a different kind of respirator.
Gustafson talked about polio's impact, on both her and her husband.
"Well, first of all, I can't, this arm hangs like this..and I can't raise this one," Gustafson said. "And my husband was in a wheelchair for the rest of his life...you know what? It makes you tough, mean," she said as she laughed a little.
Gustafson said her secret to living a long life is thinking positively and praying.
She also said she emphasized the importance of vaccinations, as the invention of the polio vaccine eradicated the disease in the United States for over three decades.
