About Us	Search	Advertising

	Brought to you by:

Every Friday, come rain come shine she hits the busy streets of Hermanus in her little red shoprider.

Destination - Hermanus Times. Hermine Allen is the gallant woman who regularly collects the Hermanus Times for Huis Lettie Theron residents. Hermine, a polio victim loves doing things for others. She also takes and fetches the big private postbag every day, and often does shopping for other residents.

Enquiring whether she drives down Church Street or along the sea? “No”, she replies, “always down Flower Street. 'Father' of Huis Lettie, Niel du Toit taught all of us using shop-riders to go down Flower Street on our way to town. Should anything go wrong, there are people on both sides of the street who would hear us and give assistance.”

Hermine Allen was born in Northcliff on 28 September 1944, youngest of three daughters. At age four, she contracted polio and spent one and a half years in Conradie Hospital, Pinelands after which she had to walk with callipers. She remembers life at Hermanus Primary School well and could join in most activities. It was only in sport or gym that she sat on a stone watching.

In Std 5 her mother was advised to send her to Elizabeth Conradie School for Handicapped Children at Diskobolos, Kimberley. Her mother was reluctant until she read an article about the school. Hermine spent her high school life at Diskobolos. She remembers her first day - the principal and a teacher met her at the station and remarked that she was the first pupil who arrived at the school laugh-ing. When a girl fell one day, she said “Toemaar, Hermine, we fall here, but we get up again”. One girl fell on the stage when she had to sing. She simply got up and started to sing.

Poliomyelitis is an infectious disease involving the spinal cord and the brain. The first epidemic was in 1881 in Sweden. It spread to Scandinavia, USA and Australia, and in 1912 reached England and South Africa. The victim is infect-ed by a virus conveyed by coughing, sneezing, milk, flies and other things.

The disease tends to occur pre-dominantly in young chil-dren. Before 1950 many children were affected with this dreaded disease. Known as 'kinderverlamming' (children's paralysis) many victims are still suffering today - some in wheelchairs and in constant need of assistance.

Hermine says that her shoprider changed her life totally, and gave her a lot of freedom and independence.

Medical researchers worked feverishly for years and after World War II developed a vaccine that was a success. All children were inoculated and the epidemic was controlled. Hermine?s years at Eli-zabeth Conradie were happy. The teachers were caring and kind.

Their doctor was Dr Elinor Guthrie who lived in Voëlklip and recently died. Hermine came home and started work at Old Mutual in Pinelands. After eight years she was appointed at the local municipality where she worked for 14 years.

Once she was coughing badly and doctors prescribed cortisone which she took daily for the next 20 years.

Then severe deterioration set in and she struggled to walk. It was discovered that cortisone plus the effect of polio caused muscle degeneration. Eventually she could hardly walk at all and, even though too young she was allowed to move to Huis Lettie Theron. She is a hap-py and contented person - a support to many around her. (SJ du Toit)

	Back to top
© Overberg Media (Pty) Ltd.