Over My Dead Body - The June Opie story

Polio is a disease caused by a virus and it can cause paralysis. When June Opie caught polio the only thing she could move was a single eyelid.

June Opie was born in Mokau. This week we find out a little about her life.

Rewind

June was born in 1926. What else was happening in New Zealand around this time? Decide whether the events below are true or false and then check your answers at the end of this week's TreasureLink.

1. The Edmonds Cookery Book is already a best seller.
2. Mr Lambert from Hunterville suggests aircraft should be used for top dressing but his idea doesn't get much support.
3. One third of New Zealand's farmers live in the Auckland province.
4. There are still more people living in rural than urban areas.
5. New Zealand has just had its worst outbreak of poliomyelitis.

Answers at the bottom of the page

Word watch

All the words below are in this week's story. Choose the best meaning and then check your answers when you read the story.

1. Undaunted (a) not discouraged or (b) horrified
2. Passionately (a) genuinely or (b) severely
3. Inadequate pension (a) physical disability or (b)  an allowance that is not enough
4. Hospitable (a) often unwell or (b) friendly
5. Withered (a) thin and powerless or (b) bent out of shape
6. Testimony (a) statement or (b) proof
7. Indomitable grit (a) unbeatable determination or (b) physical skills
8. Pathologist (a) a doctor in charge of x-rays or (b) a specialist in diseases
9. Unfailing diligence (a) attention and dedication or (b) tremendous skill
10. Indebtedness (a) gratitude or (b) being poor

Answers at the bottom of the page

Fast facts on polio

A fast fact box gives readers important nuggets of information about a topic. They present data in a short crisp way. Pictures help the text catch the eye.

Design and write a fast fact box that helps people find out about polio. Look here for your information. Answer these questions in your fact box.

How does polio affect a person?

How do people catch it?

Where does the polio virus live?

How have some countries eliminated polio?

Where are most cases of polio found now?

Mokau magic

How much do you know about Mokau? Try this quick quiz with a classmate and then check your answers at the end of this week's TreasureLink.

1. Is Mokau north or south of Awakino?
2. Which tiny fish is Mokau famous for?
3. What is the Cygnet?
4. What sort of mines did Mokau once have a long way up the river?
5. Awakino, Mokau, Tongaporutu, Urenui and Waitara all had one. Goods were shipped in and out and through me. What am I?

Answers at the bottom of the page

Life in an iron lung

June Opie was kept alive in an iron lung.  Read this amazing article about the people who spent time in one. Find out what the iron lung was and what it did. It's an interesting read.

The good life

Read the first part of this week's story down to the paragraph about the new curved Mokau bridge.

This part of the story gives us clues or possible reasons for why June Opie was able to fight back so well from polio.  Try this with a classmate. Use the chart (PDF below) and jot down any clues in column one. Jot down the consequences of these actions in column two.

Polio panic

The next five paragraphs show us just how serious the polio epidemics were in New Zealand. Read down to "Opie likened this to an electric jug being switched off at the wall"

Today we know that muscles must be kept moving so they don't waste away. Many of the polio victims however couldn't move their muscles themselves. An exercise cycle for example wouldn't work because the polio patients couldn't push the pedals.

Invent and draw a simple machine that could have been used to exercise a muscle group. Choose your muscle group from here.  You can click on three more muscle groups from this page.

Remember - Your machine must move the muscle group but it cannot rely on patient power.

Second thoughts?

June Opie recovered from the iron lung and went on to write a book that became a best seller. Read through to the paragraph that begins, "I've always felt a responsibility..."and find out the story behind the cartoon above.

Now write the words for the thought bubble to go with the doctor in the cartoon. This thought bubble must show the doctor's second thoughts and these thoughts must be as positive as June herself.

Fighting spirit!

Finish the story now to find out what June Opie achieved in her lifetime.

June Opie fought for the rights and welfare of disabled people. She solved problems and viewed obstacles as challenges. Now that you know a little about her, how do you think she would have dealt with the following problems? Think, pair and share your ideas with a classmate.

1. Officials say June cannot study at their university because it would be difficult and dangerous for her to get up and down the stairs.
2. June is told she is not allowed to try for a car license because she has a disability.
3. Most of the public buildings in New Zealand, like banks, libraries, and picture theatres have stairs leading into them.
4. June loves walking on the beach but it's tricky because her crutches sink in the sand.

Fast forward

There are about 10,000 polio survivors in New Zealand and around 350 in Taranaki. Shirley Hazlewood is one of them and she's tough, just like June Opie.

Most of Shirley's childhood was spent in hospital.  The time she did spend at school was pretty harsh. The kids called her names and some adults crossed the road so they didn't have to walk past her. They really thought they could catch polio just by walking past. In 1998 Shirley found her polio had returned and just recently she's had her leg amputated below the knee. 

There is a Taranaki story about Shirley and it ends like this:

One leg, two wheels, a powerhouse that hides a large beating heart.  A symbol of what can be done, not of what can't.

'I've had a hard life but I've got on with it.  I've counted my blessings so many times.  Life is what you make it.  If you want to be happy, be happy.'

Now that's an attitude worth having. Check out Shirley's story.  It's as tough as the lady and well worth a read.

Answers

Rewind

1. True. The Edmonds Cookery Book first appeared in 1907.
2. True
3. True. The Auckland province includes the Waikato and many farmers have settled on these warm and fertile plains.
4. False. There are 1.4 million New Zealanders and two thirds live in urban areas.
5. True.  In 1925 over 1000 cases of polio were reported and there were at least 170 deaths.

Click to go back to the questions

Word Watch

1a, 2a, 3b, 4b, 5a, 6b, 7a, 8b, 9a, 10a

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Mokau magic quiz

1. South
2. Whitebait
3. The Cygnet is the historic cream boat that still takes Mokau's tourists on riverboat cruises.
4. Coal mines
5. I am a port. All these little places on the North Taranaki coast had a port but they became less important when the road to New Plymouth was improved.

Click to go back to the questions