No.503 Yvonne (Bonnie) Campbell VanRoosendaal, 2009

File — Box: 62, Folder: 12

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

VanRoosendaal (b. 1935) grew up in Eureka, Utah. She contracted polio at age four around Thanksgiving time and was hospitalized at the Shriner’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, where she stayed for approximately 11 months. She discusses her experiences there, including visiting her parents through a window while in quarantine, receiving daily chocolate syrup with a yeast cake tonic along with a sponge bath. When she was discharged, she came home on crutches and braces. Her mother routinely massaged her legs and back with cocoa butter. She continued in braces for approximately four years. She returned to Shriner’s at approximately age 13 for surgery to “set” her ankle by orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Pemberton. She was left with a lifelong limp and her right leg slightly shorter than her left. Mrs. VanRoosendaal describes her schooling and adult life, including her marriage and birth of four children. Mrs. VanRoosendaal discusses her current problems with post-polio syndrome.
Polio Oral History Project.
Interviewer: Becky B. Lloyd

Dates

2009

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.