Agnes Faraci has been supporting March of Dimes and its Post-Polio Canada® program for over ten years.
Agnes spent her working years as a nurse, often working on medical missions that took her to countries abroad where she assisted in surgeries in developing nations, under less than ideal circumstances. Her job exposed her to people living with chronic illness and disability. Agnes is also a polio survivor. She contracted the virus in 1949, when she was five years old. Agnes counts herself as one of the lucky survivors who was left without a permanent disability and she does not have post-polio syndrome. Her work and her complete recovery from polio fueled her desire to support a number of charities, including March of Dimes.
Agnes doesn’t remember a great deal about her bout with polio, she knows she was treated at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto and that she spent time in rehab after that. Two memories she does have of her time in the hospital are of getting painful needles in her thighs and trying to run away. In a desire to escape, she threw her crayons and colouring book out her hospital window, and tied her bed sheets together to climb out the window. Her escape attempt was quickly thwarted, but remains one of her clearest memories.
Agnes’ support of March of Dimes and the Post-Polio Canada program has been so important. Without people like Agnes, the program would not be able to continue producing educational materials, including newsletters, and support to polio survivors, their families and healthcare providers across the country.
