Polio survivor Mrs Roshi Razzaq live from London via internet feed giving her account of battling the crippling disease. Photo: VINO

The Rotary Clubs of Road Town and Road Town Sunrise held a joint dinner and fund raiser on the occasion of World Polio Day on Friday evening October 24, 2014 and as part of the activities there was a touching account from a polio survivor. Photo: VINO

The dinner was held at the Treasure Isle Hotel and well attended by a number of Rotarians and their guests. Photo: VINO

According to Mrs Razzaq, there has never been a time when she never walked with a limp. “When I was four or five, I thought everybody walked like that,” she said, referring to the limping which she endured. "Then it dawned on me that I walked different, that I was different,” she said. Photo VINO

Some of the attendees of the dinner on Friday evening at Treasure Isle Hotel. Photo: VINO

The dinner was held at the Treasure Isle Hotel and well attended by a number of Rotarians and their guests.

One of the guest speakers for the evening was Mrs Roshi Razzaq of Pakistan, where Polio still exists. She gave her presentation via internet video feed from London where she has been residing for years.

During her presentation Mrs Razzaq spoke of what it was like for her growing up and thinking that it was normal for persons to go through what she was.

She spoke of her legs being atrophied because of the crippling disease and of how she longed to wear the kinds of shoes her sister would wear. “I have an older sister and she was buying shoes for herself. She was wearing beautiful shoes and I wanted to buy those shoes,” she said.

Since one of her feet was underdeveloped from the polio, it was smaller in size than the other so her shoes had to be specially made.

Mrs Razzaq said that the word polio was never spoken and it was some years until she realized that this was what crippled her.

According to Mrs Razzaq, there has never been a time when she never walked with a limp. “When I was four or five, I thought everybody walked like that,” she said, referring to the limping which she endured. "Then it dawned on me that I walked different, that I was different,” she said.

Despite the odds, she became active in drama and would sing and act on stage. She also enjoys cooking and spoke of how she found fulfillment in marriage to a man who cared deeply about her and saw her for more than the disease which afflicted her.

She thanked Rotary International for their work in seeking to eradicate polio from the face of the earth and thanked the audience for listening to her story about her experience with the crippling disease.

The audience in turn thanked Mrs Razzaq for sharing her very difficult and emotional story with them.