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Chapter Ninety-Three "Hello, doctor's office. Can I help you?" For 25 years, 7 days a week, I repeated those words, or others like them. And each time I did, I said a silent thank you to Florence Stattel, the Chief of Occupational Therapy at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in West Orange , New Jersey . Even though I am paralyzed from the chest down, being able to answer the phone with those familiar phrases allowed me to support myself all those years and now to enjoy my retirement in Florida . But it never would have happened without Florence. In September 1948, at the age of 20, while preparing to return from summer vacation for my junior year at the University of Pennsylvania , I was stricken with Bulbar polio. In those days, it was still called "infantile paralysis." Polio did mostly strike children as the name suggests, but in 1948 many teens and young adults like me were affected. Many young people died that summer in Atlantic City where I was stricken; I fortunately survived. However, I was totally paralyzed and unable to breathe without the help of an "iron lung," a large, ugly cylinder in which I lay on my back, with only my head protruding. I spent 2 years in hospitals getting hot packs, passive exercise, and other therapy. Eventually, I was weaned from the iron lung, but I was still paralyzed from the chest down, except for a slight return of function in my arms and hands. In October 1950, I was very fortunate to be accepted as a patient at the Kessler Institute. The Institute had been founded a few years earlier by Dr. Henry Kessler, a pioneer in the field of rehabilitation, and was considered one of the best rehabilitation facilities in the country. Florence Stattel was the very intelligent, hard working, and devoted Chief of Occupational Therapy. Florence and I discussed my future, what I could do with my very limited mobility to earn a living and experience some measure of self-sufficiency and fulfillment. Returning to college was not an option. Those were the days before the Americans with Disabilities Act, curb cuts for wheelchairs, ramps, and vans with lifts. Florence and I had to face the fact that it would be almost impossible for me to secure employment outside my own home. That's when Florence and I came up with the idea that it would be possible for me, with specially designed equipment, to operate an answering service from the apartment that I shared with my extraordinary parents. Florence contacted New Jersey Bell Telephone. The Bell representative was extremely encouraging and cooperative. He, Florence , and I visited several answering services in the West Orange area so that I could see what was involved. Above and beyond his job requirements, the strong, young phone executive lifted me gently in and out of the car. Florence convinced New Jersey Bell to adapt telephone equipment that I could operate with my limited muscle function. A unique switchboard was installed in our apartment, and I learned to use it. Over the next 25 years, I serviced about 75 clients, mostly doctors and businesses. It was a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week operation. I employed a night operator, and my wonderful parents also pitched in when necessary. Over all those years, I only missed one day of work, and that was due to an occupational hazard-laryngitis. I must have been doing a good job, because I always had a long waiting list for service. Thanks to Florence and New Jersey Bell , not only was I financially self- sufficient, but I was able to carefully invest the money I earned. In 1976, I sold the business to one of my competitors and used the proceeds to purchase a condo in Florida for me and my parents. They are now deceased, but I continue to live in the condo with a live-in aide. Thank goodness I can afford it. I shudder to think how different my life would have been without the determination, guidance, and inspiration afforded me by Florence . She was a tremendous influence in my life, and I will be eternally grateful to her. Copyright © 2003 by SLACK Incorporated.
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