Polio took his legs but not his determination

DEDICATED: Ramesh Ferris, 28, is a polio survivor whose legs were paralyzed by the disease. Now Ferris is hand-cycling across the country to raise awareness of the need for polio vaccinations

From The Daily Gleaner

His legs were paralyzed by polio years ago, but that hasn’t stopped Ramesh Ferris from hand-cycling across the country.

Ferris, 28, wants to raise awareness of the polio vaccine in hopes of one day seeing the disease eradicated.

He has taken his message to capital cities across Canada since leaving the Yukon in April.

And he doesn’t plan to stop until he reaches the eastern tip of Newfoundland.

“I have about 1,000 kilometres to go if our estimate of 7,200 kilometres for the whole trip is correct,” Ferris said. “But this trip isn’t about one individual cycling across Canada.

“It’s about working together to share the message about polio eradication, education and rehabilitation until globally it becomes a disease of our past.”

Poliomyelitis, or polio, is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus that enters through the mouth and multiplies in tonsils and lymph nodes.

It invades the nervous system and can cause paralysis in a matter of hours. It can also affect a person’s breathing and be fatal.

Ferris, who was born in India, contracted the disease at six months.

It left him without the use of his legs and he had pneumonia nine times before his 11th birthday.

“My family had no access to the polio vaccination, which had been released in other parts of the world 25 years earlier,” Ferris said. “Since my mother had no access to rehabilitative supports, she placed me in a Canadian-founded orphanage where I was adopted by a Canadian family.”

Ferris learned to walk on crutches with the support of his new family, several surgeries and other mobility aids.

In 2002, he returned to India to visit his biological mother and the orphanage where he once lived.

During the visit, he witnessed the reality of polio survivors living in a less-fortunate country.

“There was probably a time when I was young that I was angry and wondered why this had happened to me, but when I visited India and saw other polio survivors crawling on the ground in the dirt because they didn’t have the supports I had, I knew what I needed to do.”

Ferris started Cycle to Walk after his return to Canada.

The goal of the charitable organization is to raise money for the eradication of polio, spread awareness about the continuing need for immunization against the disease and support the rehabilitation of polio survivors in poor countries.

“Canadians are becoming complacent regarding polio vaccination because they might not see it as a threat anymore. Just over 3.4-million Canadians have not received the vaccination and that’s extremely frustrating,” Ferris said.

“If we do not continue efforts to eradicate this disease, an additional 10 million children will be paralyzed over the next 40 years.”

The Public Health Agency of Canada has declared the country polio-free.

Megan Cumby, spokeswoman for the New Brunswick Department of Health, said New Brunswick parents aren’t obligated to vaccinate their children.

“Immunizations are strongly recommended, but parents always have the right to refuse,” Cumby said. “The Education Act states that a child has to be vaccinated in order to enter school, but if the parent has an objection on certain grounds, such as religion, they have to sign a form about why they weren’t vaccinated.”

Ferris said he has a long way to go before everyone understands the importance of being vaccinated against polio.

He hopes to raise $1 million by the end of this month to help the cause.

He said 75 per cent of the money will go toward polio eradication efforts of PolioPlus, a Rotary International program; 20 per cent will go to international organizations focused on providing rehabilitation support to polio survivors; and the remaining five per cent is earmarked for the Cycle to Walk Society for the purpose of educating Canadians about polio and stress the need for continued immunization.

For more information, visit www.cycletowalk.com.