Patient zero: Back from the brink
Discovery
BBC
4.3 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 24 May 2021
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A six-year old boy in Papua New Guinea woke up one day in 2018 and was suddenly unable to stand up. Less than a year later, children in three other Asia Pacific nations were experiencing the same alarming symptoms.
A disease that had been thought to have been eradicated from this region 18 years before was back -- and it appeared to be spreading. Olivia Willis tells the story of how doctors discovered that these children who developed paralysis had in fact contracted polio.
Producers: Jane Lee, Cheyne Anderson Senior Producer: Carl Smith Executive Producer: Joel Werner Sound Design: Tim Jenkins
An ABC Science Unit. ABC Radio National and BBC World Service co-production.
Picture: Child receiving a polio vaccination from health worker at a mobile clinic on a street in Mount Hagen in the Western Highlands, Credit: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to introduce myself. |
| 0:03.6 | My name's Stevie Middleton and I'm a BBC Commissioner for a load of sport podcasts. |
| 0:08.1 | I'm lucky to do that at the BBC because I get to work with a leading journalist, experienced |
| 0:12.2 | pundits and the biggest sport stars. |
| 0:14.3 | Together we bring you untold stories and fascinating insights straight from the players' |
| 0:18.5 | mouths. |
| 0:19.5 | But the best thing about doing this at the BBC is our unique access to the sport world. |
| 0:24.9 | What that means is that we can bring you podcasts that create a real connection to |
| 0:28.8 | dedicated sports fans across the UK. |
| 0:31.0 | So if you like this podcast, head over to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more. |
| 0:40.9 | This is the sound of life in the Marrow Bay province of Papua New Guinea, in the settlements |
| 0:45.8 | around the country's sprawling semi-rural city of Lai. |
| 0:50.2 | It was captured by ABC journalist Bethany Hariman and Natalie Whiting, who made the long journey |
| 0:55.9 | out from Port Morsby to meet a nine-year-old boy called Gafo. |
| 1:00.1 | Gafo is a little shy. |
| 1:11.2 | He doesn't say much, but he's got big eyes and a cheeky grin. |
| 1:16.2 | You get the feeling he's pretty chatty when it's just him and his family. |
| 1:21.1 | Gafo and his parents, Maya and Sawyer, are speaking top-pissed. |
| 1:32.8 | With a bit of help from his dad, Maya, Gafo shares some of his hobbies. |
| 1:46.5 | For the record, that's touch rugby playing soccer and staying at home. |
| 1:52.2 | Even though he's quiet and sounds like he'd rather be kicking a soccer ball around than |
| 1:56.4 | being interviewed by the ABC, we wanted to start with Gafo, because a few years ago, he |
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