The experience of Ms Joan Bradley, Post Polio Support Group:
"I contracted polio at four years. I was totally paralysed externally. After gradual recovery, I was able to stop using aids and appliances. This meant, though, that I only began school at nine. At 18, I attended UCD and was awarded a diploma in radiotherapy. I worked for three years at this, but had to give it up for physical reasons which were not defined at the time.
"Looking back that was Post Polio Syndrome, or LEP, setting in. Further training was not an option and I was forced into low-paid employment in an office and worked for 40 years.
"I was unable to afford VHI or a pension. For many years I sought answers from the medical profession but was fobbed off. First I had to use a stick, then a caliper, crutches, two calipers and I had to finance everything myself. Next, I could not get on a bus, so with difficulty, I got a Primary Medical Certificate, which enabled me to afford a car.
"As I accepted each of these aids, my working life was prolonged. In 1992, I got international literature and had the answer to my condition. In 1995, I got a manual wheelchair. In 2000, I took early retirement. In 2003 I got a powered wheelchair."