HERNE BAY
The Little Restaurant on the Prom
A childhood memoir of life before polio, and immediately after, and my magical childhood adventures in and out of a wheelchair
Cheyney Hospital
My misery came to an end. I was sent to Cheyney Hospital in Sevenoaks. Kent. Peace at last. The ward sister was warm, jolly and had twinkling eyes. Here I was amongst my own kind, here I was eventually handed out callipers and a spinal brace, here I was pointed in the direction of a kindly doctor who held out his arms to me and gently urged me to walk. After months of bedrails I suddenly was pushed as if by an invisible being: I staggered toward the doctor and collapsed in his arms. I had done it. I had walked again against all the odds!
*********************
My parents showered my bed
With presents and gifts:
Steak and chips in a vacume,
Aeroplanes that flew,
Books that I never even read,
Most of the kids got nothing
Not even parents!
I was embarrassed;
I was only eight
But I was SO embarrassed.
“Please don’t bring me
Any more presents.”
They didn’t.
I felt better.
I fell in love
With Nurse Roberts
And Nurse Henderson,
I didn’t know about sex
But I was getting close!
…….
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