Brad Fuller

His parents would have given anything for their son to have had a vaccine to prevent polio.

Brad Fuller was an active 16-month-old toddler in the summer of 1952. It was the year that Polio reached its peak throughout the country, affecting 58,000 children and adults, causing 3,000 deaths. That’s when he contracted Polio. The northeast region of Pennsylvania, where he lived, was especially hit hard with the virus.

The summer he got polio.
Source: Brad Fuller

Brad’s grandparents lived on an old farm in a rural area. When his Dad was away with the Air Force, their mother would often take Brad and his siblings to stay at their farm. That’s where he got sick.

He was admitted to the Hospital for Crippled Children in Elizabethtown, PA - putting the toddler more than 8 hours away from his home. He stayed 9 months in the hospital, his first 4 months were spent in an iron lung. He can remember a nurse holding him in a mineral pool and instructing him to kick his legs.

His family was only allowed to visit once a month and could only speak to him through a 2-inch slot in the door. Brad was left with a weakened left leg (2 inches shorter than his right) and a weakened right shoulder, arm and hand. Luckily, his siblings were not affected by the disease. His mother always believed that he got polio from contaminated well water on the farm. Like so many other children, they never knew for sure. His parents often said that “they would have given anything to have had a vaccine for their children”. Brad’s childhood hero was Jonas Salk.

Up until he was in the 10th grade, Brad and his family lived at or near various Air Force bases throughout the South (Lake Charles, LA; Homestead Air Base, Atlanta, GA). He remembers his first day of school in Lake Charles being interesting. He had two things going against him right from the start - he was wearing a leg brace and he was from the North. One of his classmates decided to tease him. Needless to say, a fight broke out between Brad and the other boy. When all was said and done, the two boys ended up becoming good friends. He feels that one of the benefits of moving to different areas during his childhood is that it helped him to develop a more outgoing personality as he had no choice but to make friends in each new place. He engages easily with new people and is often told that they don't see him as disabled.

Brad - a student at Albright College
Source: Brad Fuller

When Brad was 18, he underwent ankle and knee surgery. As he came out of surgery, he was terribly cold and his body was shaking. His physician knew that this was a reaction to the anesthesia. His doctor advised him that many polio survivors have uncomfortable experiences with anesthesia and that in the future, he should inform the medical staff at the hospital that he had Polio prior to any surgery.

Despite his physical limitations, he felt invincible. Brad managed to play football in his youth, doubles tennis into adulthood (he had a great left hand serve) and played bass in a rock band. He received his undergraduate degree from Albright College in Reading, PA (where he met his wife, Rei). He earned two Master’s Degrees from Kutztown University (one in Public Administration and one in Clinical Psychology). These degrees served as the foundation for his future in healthcare.

Brad (left rear) playing the bass in his band.
Source: Brad Fuller

Brad has spent most of his career in various aspects of healthcare administration. His duties have included overseeing community-based programs particularly helping mentally ill patients released from the State Hospital. These programs offer assistance as they acclimate back into society. He has been an administrator at hospitals, clinics, and Senior Centers, supervised social workers at runaway youth shelters and the Big Brother/Big Sisters organization.

He became a clinical psychologist and had a part time private practice where he specialized in marriage and family relationships. Brad gave up his private practice in 1990 when he was offered the opportunity to teach Health Administration at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. He taught there until his retirement in 2014.

It wasn’t until Brad was in his forties that he was officially diagnosed with PPS. He was fortunate to have had a physician who was well read and up to date on current medical information. It was this physician who concluded that he had PPS. (Many physicians write PPS symptoms off as “normal aging”).

Brad Fuller at Home.
Source: M. Alewine for Undark Magazine

Brad was introduced to Rotary International in an unusual way. He was Executive Director of a fairly large Senior Center in Pottstown, PA. They often hosted community groups who held meetings in their building. One evening, the Pottstown Rotary club held its meeting and Brad introduced himself to the group. After the meeting, a Rotary member, Dr. Richard Whitaker, introduced himself to Brad. He was interested in Brad’s polio story as he had a brother who had passed away from the virus. The following day, Brad fell down a flight of steps at the Center and suffered a severe injury to his left knee. The ambulance took him to Pottstown Memorial Hospital. It just so happened that the surgeon on duty was Dr. Whitaker! Needless to say, after several knee surgeries and many office visits, the two developed a friendship. Dr. Whitaker introduced him to Rotary International’s focus on polio eradication. As a result, Brad was invited to be a keynote speaker at several of their conferences. It comes as no surprise that Brad has become an avid supporter and admirer of their mission to eradicate Polio. Upon his retirement, Dr. Whitaker made a generous donation to The Pottstown Area Senior Center. In honor of his generosity, the building was named after Dr. Whitaker and his wife.

Now semi-retired, Brad and his wife Rei live in Asheville, NC where Brad volunteers as an instructor at UNCA (University of NC Asheville) in the OLLI program (Osher Lifelong Learning Center). He meets regularly with a local group “Land of the Sky Post-Polio Support” based in Asheville, NC. And if that isn’t enough to keep him busy, he also teaches Japanese History and Health Care courses in his spare time.

Although he wears a full leg brace, he struggles with frequent falls. Always one to move forward with a positive attitude, this Spring offered Brad quite the challenge. At the end of May, he was home alone getting ready to retire for the evening. His KAFO leg brace failed, and he fell. He managed to call an ambulance and went to their local hospital. Brad had a spiral fracture of his left tibia, requiring surgery. After a month in rehab, he was fully wheelchair dependent for 9 -10 weeks before he could put any weight on his leg. He sees it as one more opportunity to reflect on his parent’s wisdom. “Because God knows, they would have been happy to be able to give their son the polio vaccine.”

By Helen Urban

Brad Fuller’s Survivor Story Video.