Disclaimer: The following was transcribed from an article in the Capper Foundation Archives published by The Topeka Daily Capital. The choice of words used at the time this was written may not reflect current Capper Foundation inclusive language and views.

Marilyn Monical (1946)

When Marilyn, pretty 18-year old high school graduate (Plainville, Kansas) came to the Capper Foundation office two months ago, she walked with difficulty by aid of crutches and a number of complicated braces. It took several seconds of vigorous pulling by her girl companion to get her up the four steps at the door.

Briefly, she told the story of nine long years of crippledom. It involved a number of hospitals, a long list of doctors and operation after operation, one of which included the breaking of both legs in order to straighten them. Throughout the account, Marilyn’s dancing eyes sparkled with a hope that could not be dimmed by suffering and failure. She still believed that somehow the awful effects of infantile paralysis might be overcome to the extent that she could walk up and down steps without help from others.

Now slightly over two months later, that hope is being realized. From the supervised exercising grounds, where she is undergoing treatment as a Capper Foundation patient, Marilyn wrote recently, “I can now go upstairs, not using the railing or having any assistance whatever. It’s fun. I’m wearing out the steps. It’s such a wonderful feeling to go up without any help at all. You see, to a handicapped person, steps are really a worry. You’d be surprised how hard it is to use canes instead of crutches”.

Still later she wrote, “I have good news to report this time! I am now walking eight hours each with two canes with one brace unlocked. It’s hard work but it is gradually getting easier. Thursday, I walked 80 feet with just one cane and without anyone around me to catch me. The surprising thing is I didn’t fall over!”

From these statements you can gather that Marilyn is putting up a game fight–and is winning! She is using every particle of energy and willpower she can command to achieve the goal for which she has hoped for so long. Now, don’t you want to help make it possible for this remedial treatment to go on so long as Marilyn improves ever so little? She may never be perfect, physically, but it is believed that she can get along with the use of only one cane. To her, that means the difference between a simi-helpless cripple and an independent person, able to make her own way in the business world.   

The scores and scores of crippled children now being treated by the Capper Foundation represent so many different degrees of handicap, each requiring special treatment of some kind. In some instances a single operation is sufficient. In others, months of supervised exercises are necessary to bring the child up to maximum condition. We try to provide the best that present-day science has to offer in the way of remedial treatment.

Such a variety of remedies, all essential in a wide program of improvement, requires the help of all friends of the crippled children. The Capper Foundation is financed entirely by voluntary contributions. Your gift, large or small, will be gratefully accepted. Many are giving in memory of loved ones. Others are naming the Foundation in their wills. When you send your offering, ask for our booklet containing suggestions on bequests and other convenient methods of giving.