Polio – poliomyelitis – affects mainly children under the age of five, and is spread virally, through contaminated food and water. Polio is asymptomatic, so those newly infected show few, if any, signs of the disease. For some, however, polio can cause terrible life-changing conditions, such as paralysis and deformity of the limbs. Although once common, vaccination programmes have eradicated polio in Britain, and it now exists in a few pockets of the world, blighting the lives of those it touches.
Students of Woodham Academy’s Eco group, in conjunction with Rotary Great Aycliffe, have recently planted a patch of purple crocus on the school site to symbolise the terrible legacy of polio, and as a visual statement that they actively support the ongoing efforts of the world’s scientific and caring communities to eradicate this disease once and for all, and wipe it completely from the earth. The early flowering, purple crocus has been chosen in recognition of a purple mark given to vaccinated children to show they have been immunised against the virus.
A sign will be placed alongside this garden of remembrance, so family and visitors to Woodham Academy will understand its significance, and the Eco group intends to plant other, purple, native wild flowers beneath the borders of its trees, and create baskets of purple blooms to promote this worthy cause throughout the rest of the year.