She lived in an iron lung for most of her life. She inspired others. Who was she?
"Comfort don't ever leave me," she says to me as she struggles on her death bed. I hold her hands, trying to fight away tears from my eyes. Her struggle now becomes weaker and weaker. And then drawing a deep long breath, her eyes fixed on my face, she dies. The hospital attendants wheeled her away to
morgue. And I thought that world had ended.
I worked for Hope as an attendant being a nursing-school student. I was taken aback when I first saw this woman living inside a tank called a respirator.
At first, I could not bring myself to ask her how she came into this. As time went by, however, we become familiar and talked freely together. Then one day when her husband came to see how she was doing, I asked question directing it to no one in particular. I thought that her husband would provide answer, but instead, it was Hope that started her story.
"One black winter morning in 1948—thirty six years after I was born in Los Angles—I discovered that I was stricken with deadly polio." She swallowed hard and continues. "Things got bad quickly. From flu to paralysis and then to hospital where I added up to several polio patients on waiting list." She wanted to scratch herself but since she could not do it herself, she called my attention to it, which I did. And then she resumed her story.
"I was afraid. I thought that I was going to die. For I had to lie on my back on floor of crowded hospital waiting for an Iron lung. But it was long in coming. Breathing was hard. Then one day, I passed out. I did not know what happened afterward. Job will tell you rest of story.
"When Hope fainted, I didn't think that she would come back to life again" husband continues. "The doctors must have been some kind of magicians because after one week, my wife started to breathe again. And before long, she was placed in next available respirator, much to our relief.
"These Iron lungs were at first thought to be a temporary invention—helping patients to recover—and breathe on their own later. But we discovered that opposite was case. Because these breathing machines were to become permanent homes of many polio sufferers.
"Knowing this, I brought her home with machine. And she has been living inside it for past three decades" he ended and left room, trying to hide his tears. I tried to fight back mine too. I was trying to really understand what it means to lie on one's back in one spot for over thirty years.
Her faith in God kept her going through years. She was a very devout Christian and she believed that her suffering was only for a time. And she firmly believed that if she dies, she will be resurrected to live again, pointing out what Jesus told Lazarus's sister, Martha at John 11: 25 .
I must confess that I was not a Christian when I started working for her. She was one that preached to me and converted me to Christianity. And that was what she did to numerous other curious passersby and strangers who came to see her. Instead of being encouraged, she was one that encouraged her sympathizers; and her faith in Bible made many to become Christians. She was always praying to God in behalf of herself and others; and despite her condition, she was full of compassion for people. In fact, her courage inspired all who knew her.
