Patricia Ann Morrison
Pat caught the polio virus when she was eleven and living in Richwood, West Virginia. She spent the next year in Marmet Hospital learning how to manage the paralysis that affected her muscles from her waist down to her toes. She returned home using a full-body prosthetic that gradually was reduced to leg braces. Elbow crutches provided Pat with the ability to be mobile. She completed elementary school and graduated from Richwood High School in 1962. Pat received her BA from Glenville State College and worked as a Special Education and Reading teacher in Carroll County, Maryland for thirty years, until she retired in 1996.
I met Pat through Match.com in 2013 and we were partners till her death in July 2024. She owned her condo in Westminster, Maryland and had groceries and anything else she needed delivered. Pat drove her own car and lived independently until January 2023, when a broken hip took away her independence.
She was an expert in managing her post-polio experience and exercised daily with hand and foot weights for strength and stretching routines for flexibility. She was very proud of being able to touch her forehead to her knees at age 79 ! Pat had a library of polio and post-polio books and was an avid reader using her Nook e-reader. Pat was very concerned about her diet and nutrition. I recall driving her to a farm in Pennsylvania to buy organic milk and produce. A significant polio-related issue that she managed daily was constipation. Muscles in Pat's abdomen were also weakened by the polio virus, which led to a lifetime of constipation. Diet and drugs only partially helped. Pat learned and performed manual extraction, which no one ever wants to talk about.
During her retirement, Pat took yoga classes and tried to volunteer. She was very disappointed that organizations judged her abilities by her appearance. I thought she was a beautiful woman whom I liked to hang out with.
No child should ever get polio.
By Cyril Junneau Jardine, 2025
PPSN Note: We honor her life and are grateful for her support of our mission to serve polio survivors and their caregivers.