Tuesday Voice: Missionary Kid

Rabies

By Vic Midyett

I apologize ahead of time for this disturbing memory.
    Rabies was, and is, rampant in India. When I was about 5 or 6 years old (mid-1950s), one of the missionary wives was bitten by a rabid dog. I can’t remember exactly, but I think it was discovered too late, or no vaccine could be found in time, or something else terribly untimely happened. The horrible and devastating affects had taken hold in the woman's body.
    She was the young wife of one of the doctors at the leprosy hospital my dad was affiliated with. I give no names.
    Seeing as euthanizing the woman was not an option, a strong cage was used to secure her and keep her away from everyone, including her husband. When rabies takes effect, one first starts frothing at the mouth and one's mood becomes extremely aggressive. It was at the onset of this behavior that the hapless woman was caged. My dear God! They saw nothing else to do.
    As the disease progressed, and for about ten days, she didn’t know anyone. Everyone within long ear shot could hear her screams. It went on all day and all night.
    I was forbidden to go anywhere near the area. Not that I wanted to.
    Finally, one day, it stopped. I was told the poor woman was finally at peace with God and didn’t have rabies anymore.
    Whew! I have used as few words as I could to relay this story. It was truly horrible and one that haunts me to this day.

That experience became more personally real during summer vacation about seven years later. Our boarding school called to tell us that a stray dog some of us had touched and petted before school let out had later been shot because it developed rabies. Everyone in the school had to arrange for shots before returning.
    Anita and I got one injection in the belly every day for fourteen days. That was the protocol then for the cure. It was duck serum, I was told. Pain? Mercy!
    After the first few days it was difficult to find a new place to puncture. The red swelling around each injection extended a minimum of an inch.
    But we made it through, and no one in the school was sick for long.
    What happened to the missionary wife has remained the worse memory.
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Copyright © 2014 by Vic Midyett

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