Over the past few years, thanks to the
wonders of the internet, I have been able to keep in
touch with many friends and family. School was one of those places where we all
met people. Some we may not have become close to, but who we still remember. Over the
years we be-friend some, find we don't get on with others and make enemies of
a few. Time tends to erase the worst memories and today I find myself e-mailing them and swapping stories about our own good old days.
My school
was Orroroo Higher Primary School and at the time kids bussed in from Carrieton,
Tarcowie, Willowie, Yatina and Johnburgh. In the sixties over three hundred and
twenty kids filled the courtyard for assembly. Some stood out for academic
prowess, others for their sporting ability and then there were the bottom
feeders, people like me. We scraped through without recognition and had to
carry home report cards telling our parents we must strive more, if we expected to
achieve a pass mark.
During these early years one kid stood out, not because he was different,
but because he was away from school for big chunks of the year at times. We
didn’t know why.
Allen lived a few houses up the street from us. I didn’t
understand until we were in about year five, that Allen was different, he had polio.
Nothing stopped this bloke, we played cricket, rode our bikes (his was a three
wheeler, but boy he made it go) swapped comics and dreamed. Never once can I
recall him complaining of his condition. I think as most kids do he accepted
it.
As happens often, his family moved away and our lives went on. Allen
enjoyed success in the education field and I followed into the family business.
My memory is that he always had a positive attitude. Maybe it is
something he dealt with back then. Today through social media and by collecting
stories from other people, he is working to make others aware of what polio did
to sufferers like him. His is work of great service. For me we were kids, Allen
didn't have poliomyelitis, sure he had irons that made him walk funny, but I
had freckles and was not academically gifted. Other kids were different too, that
hasn't changed, at the time we just got on with.
Heroes come in different guises; Allen Gibb is this to me.Check out his posts on Facebook to follow more of his story.
