Born: September 20, 1886,
Warialda, New South Wales
Died: November 30, 1952,
Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
"They've said no. I'm here to try to get them to change their minds. But I'm not very hopeful."
--From Cherry Ames, Student Nurse, p. 151
Elizabeth Kenny, known as Sister Kenny, was an innovator in the treatment of polio, despite opposition from the medical establishment.
Highlights
Elizabeth Kenny graduated from college in 1902 and was a nurse in the bush country districts of Queensland from 1911 to 1914.
During these years, she developed a treatment for polio, or infantile paralysis, that consisted of stimulating affected muscles using hot, moist packs and passive exercise, then active exercise.
She established a clinic in Townsville, Queensland in 1933, and, despite opposition, saw her method finally accepted in Australia in 1939.
She lectured in the United States in the early 1940s and finally gained the support of the American Medical Association.
In 1942, she established the Kenny Institute in Minneapolis to teach her method.
Sister Kenny: Treating Polio
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