Defying predictions

At 71, a polio survivor thrives as a triathlete

When Div Louw contracted spino-bulbar polio at age 4 in South Africa in the 1950s before vaccines became available, he was given a 2 percent chance of survival. He spent six months in isolation, including time in an iron lung machine to help with breathing. His father gave him a special toy and a choice. 

“He said, ‘Look, son, you can either go into the hospital and have calipers [leg supports] and hope you can walk again, or you can take this [toy riding] fire truck and do what you do best,’” recalls Louw. “I loved that fire truck. That was the trigger for everything.” 

The toy truck became his legs; he rode it everywhere. In time, some of his nerve and muscle function recovered, and he began to walk again. 

Now 71, Louw has spent his life baffling doctors and defying predictions of immobility. Despite periodic flare-ups that cause irregular heart rhythms and weakness in his limbs, he embraced athletics later in life, winning the gold medal in his paratriathlon ability category at the Africa Triathlon Championships in Egypt in 2021. He represented his country again in the championships in Morocco in September. 

In July, he joined the Rotary Club of Benoni, South Africa. “I wanted to raise awareness,” he says, “and I looked on the internet and found that Rotary was working to eradicate polio. It has been absolutely magical.” 

“The intensity of my plea comes from my experience,” says Louw. “When I see resistance to vaccinations, especially now with polio still being detected in places, I want to tell people: ‘Don’t let this happen to you.’”