Elizabeth Kenny was born in Warialda, New South Wales back in 1880 to Michael and Mary. She was mainly home-schooled but did attend schools in South Wales.
When she was seventeen she broke her wrist, her father took her to Toowoomba for treatment where she said while recuperating. With nothing much to do she began reading his medical books, thus is the subject of the rest of the story.
From 18 to her mid-twenties she worked as an unaccredited bush nurse. In 1909 she paid a tailor to make her a nurse’s uniform complete with cap and cape. In 1915 she volunteered to serve as a nurse in the war. Not officially qualified the service took her anyway. She was so good at the job she earned the title of “Sister” in the Australian Army Nurse Corps. With the information I have it would take 3-4 blogs to write about her adventures however, with my word limit I’ll jump to the end of the story.
She promoted a controversial new approach to the treatment of polio. Her approach became the foundation of what we now call “physical therapy”. In 1946 the movie Sister Kenny, her life story was told. The actress who portrayed her was nonother than Rosalind Russell. Until tomorrow be contagious and pass on a smile.
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