'The strongest, bravest person you could ever meet' who has lived with effects of polio for 75 years

Great North Run veteran Jodie Wafer with mum Brenda, who had polio seventy-five years ago
-Credit: (Image: Jodie Wafer)


After completing her fifth Great North Run in five years, a Whitley Bay carer has paid tribute to her "hero" mum who has lived with the impact of polio for 75 years.

Jodie Wafer told ChronicleLive how her mum Brenda had been on crutches since she was a tot due to the awful illness. Jodie explained her indefatigable mum had never let the illness get the better of her.

Jodie said: "My mum has been supported by the British Polio Fellowship for most of her life. She was just three when she caught polio. She was in and out of hospital for the first 19 years of her life.

"She has never thought of herself as disabled. She worked in factories and she used to go out dancing! She walked all over Paris and has never let anything stop her."

She recalled how her mum had been through a great many health challenges - including spending "most of her childhood" having operations to try to help her to walk. Jodie said: "I often joke she should be in the Guinness World Record Book as the person who has walked on crutches for the longest time! She is a hero and inspiration to everyone who knows her.

'Life's a dance for polio girl Brenda' a Chronicle article from 1970 about Jodie Wafer's mum Brenda
'Life's a dance for polio girl Brenda' a Chronicle article from 1970 about Jodie Wafer's mum Brenda -Credit:Jodie Wafer / ChronicleLive

"She has survived cancer twice and has had to cope with a lot over the years and she even put her life at risk to have me in 1981 but she is always smiling, positive and happy and is the strongest, bravest person you could ever meet."

Daughter Jodie added: "She has just lived her life to the full. I feel like I have inherited some of her steel and determination - and I just want to celebrate her."

Jodie even recalled how in 1970 Brenda had been on a night out in Newcastle and was approached by a Chronicle photographer who asked about her situation, so taken were they with her dancing - with the aid of callipers and crutches - that we featured her the following week.

At the time, in this is what Brenda told us: "I was in and out of hospital until 1967, and I must admit that when I first went to a nightclub I was a bit shy to dance. Because of this, my friends would not dance without me.

"But I decided to snap out of it and get on the floor, and now I am the first one up when the music starts. I have seen a lot of people less handicapped than I am who just sit back. But life is to be enjoyed - and I advise them to make the most of it."

The British Polio Fellowship is turning 85 this year - and Jodie is to present the Newcastle branch with the money she has raised at the Great North Run at their AGM - which will take place on September 22 at the Spanish City in Whitley Bay.