It was on the 30 January 1948 that I contracted polio. I was absolutely fine during the day – my mother took me out for a walk. That night I had a fever and my mother called the GP who gave me a quinine injection. But by the next day I’d lost all feeling in my legs and body – I just couldn’t move. The GP came again and took me to hospital where I was kept in complete isolation for 21 days. By that time I was completely paralysed – I could only move my eyes and mouth.

Over the next ten years or so my father took me for lots of different treatments and I did get some use back in my body from the waist up, although I never recovered the use of my legs and have always been in a wheelchair.

The effects of the polio stabilised when I was in my late teens. However, over the last few years things started to get worse. I didn’t used to believe in post polio syndrome but now I know I’ve got it – I’m more breathless and it’s getting worse, I can’t sleep and struggle with concentration, I have muscle pain, I get tired much more easily and have a lot of pain in my shoulders.

I was two years old when I contracted polio. I was paralysed like a rag doll – that’s when I was diagnosed. I was in total isolation for seven months. As I grew older I walked with a limp and had the usual polio gait but I was ok – I was able to do activities like play golf.

To be honest I all but forgot about the polio – I developed a successful career, got married and had three kids. It was in my 40s that I started falling over – my legs became unstable and would simply give way, particularly on stairs or slopes. I had no idea what was going on, although I thought it must be something to do with the polio. My GP recommended leg exercises to build up strength and sent me to the gym. I was doing ten miles uphill on the treadmill three times a week. It didn’t help and in fact the fatigue, muscle pain and lack of stamina continued to deteriorate – after a year of that exercise regime I could barely walk.