Jonas Salk

Hello, my name is Jonas Salk. I was born in a big, busy place called New York City on October 28th, 1914. Even when I was a little boy, I loved reading books and learning new things in school. More than anything, I wanted to find ways to help people. I saw that when people got sick, it made them and their families very sad. I decided that when I grew up, I would become a doctor and a scientist. I wanted to use my love of learning to discover new ways to keep everyone, especially children, healthy and strong so they could enjoy their lives.

When I became a doctor, there was a very serious sickness that worried everyone. It was called polio. This illness was especially scary because it mostly affected children. Polio could make a person’s muscles very weak, and sometimes it made it so they couldn't walk or run anymore. For some, it even made it hard to breathe. Every year, especially during the warm summer months, parents were afraid their children might catch it. Parks and swimming pools were sometimes empty because everyone was so worried. I knew in my heart that I had to try and find a way to stop this sickness and help children play freely again.

To fight polio, I gathered a team of smart people, and we worked together in my laboratory. For years, we spent long days and nights doing experiments and studying the polio virus. My big idea was to create something called a vaccine. I thought that if we took a tiny part of the polio virus and made it 'sleepy' so it couldn't hurt anyone, we could show it to the body. This would teach the body how to fight off the real, strong virus if it ever came around. It was like giving the body a practice lesson. After a lot of hard work and testing, we found that it worked. On the very happy day of April 12th, 1955, we announced to the whole world that the vaccine was safe and it could protect children from polio. People cheered and celebrated everywhere.

My vaccine helped protect millions of children from polio, not just in my country but all over the world. It was very important to me that every child could be safe, so I never asked for any money for my idea. I gave it away for free so that everyone who needed it could have it. I lived to be 80 years old. Today, I am happy that I am remembered as someone who helped make the world a safer, healthier place. Because of my work, children can run, jump, and play together without the fear of polio.