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Survivor brings polio's legacy of terror, hope to life

Janice and her brother FrankieJanice Flood NicholsPolio epidemics, which paralyzed and killed children and terrified parents before Jonas Salk, MD, developed a vaccine, are brought to life by a survivor of a 1953 outbreak. Janice Flood Nichols was a DeWitt first-grader when she and seven classmates were stricken. Three of them, including her twin brother, Frankie, died (the twins are shown on their last birthday before his death, and Nichols is shown at right in a recent photo). Nichols recovered, took part in the Salk vaccine trials of 1954 and today advocates for vaccination against polio and other diseases. She also touches on her mild case of post-polio syndrome, which can attack polio survivors decades later.

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