“… I attended Villa Maria with my brother Basil, two years older than me, and 24 other children until I was ten. After that, another two years on my own. It can't be said that we grew up together because we rarely related. He mixed with an older group of kids, I with the younger ones. I recall that, in about 1939, when Infantile Paralysis was an epidemic, Basil was a victim. He was sitting down eating his dinner one day and when he went to move, his legs wouldn't function. A couple of the senior kids had to lift him from his chair and carry him back to the classroom. Thence forward he was carried everywhere - to the toilet, to the dining room, to the classroom, to bed. How long this went on I don't know. From memory he was well again at school holiday time, so this procedure didn't have to be followed at Swanwater. To the best of my knowledge Basil never suffered any later ill effects….”
Ray O’Shannessy is a member of ‘As Time Goes By – Memoir Writing’. You can read a collection of Ray’s stories at https://u3abenalla.weebly.com/rays-page.