My name is Peter Pretorius. My life began in November of 1959 when I entered the world as a healthy seven-pound boy. I started walking at nine months. At the end of 1961, all kids in South Africa were immunized against polio. I developed flu and subsequently wasn't immunized like my two sisters. Two months later, my mother woke up one morning to find me lying paralyzed in my cot. She rushed me to the hospital, and within a day, I was placed in an iron lung-life support. Polio attacks muscles, but also the nerves between the brains and muscles, resulting in paralysis. My right-hand side was affected quite badly, and my left-hand side recovered somewhat, but the prognosis was that I'd never walk again.
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