Ruth A. Nelleson, Carroll County

Interviewee: Ruth Nelleson
Interviewer: Kate Scott
Date of Interview: October 3, 2007 
Run Time: Approximately 30M

Cassette
Biographical Date Form
Oral History Release
Transcript
(No Photographs Available)

Ruth Nelleson, born in Dunlap, Iowa in 1951, was diagnosed with polio when she was only 18 months old. Her father recalls it being a spring day in 1952 when her parents took her to the local physician in Dunlap because of a weak left leg. The doctor sent her to Denison for a spinal tap and from there she went directly to Mercy Hospital in Omaha where she remained in the hospital for seven weeks. She had her first surgery at the age of four to correct her “dropped foot.” She had a second surgery at the age of 12. After a severe horse-riding accident in May of 2002, Ruth had a hip replacement and, in the process, the surgeon lengthened her leg an inch. She calls that experience the “exciting” news about her polio. Ruth said, “My polio really did not inhibit me. It caused me to be self-conscious…I was always terribly self-conscious. I did not want to be in front of a group ever. I didn’t. And, all those things I found out did not matter – and, they don’t. In high school, I was on homecoming court. My biggest fear was walking up on that stage in front of everybody because I knew I was different. But, I lived through that too and that is probably my best high school memory.” Ruth is an avid horseback rider and currently lives in Carroll, Iowa.