A lion of a woman, physical-therapy pioneer Elizabeth Kenny (1880–1952) brought courage and hands-on care to those stricken with polio. In rural Australia, without formal education but with a keen understanding of anatomy and empathy, she trusted what she observed and what helped...pioneering gentle treatments restoring movement and hope.

Kenny used hot woolen compresses to ease pain and stiffness, then gently exercised affected muscles toward recovery. Her practical methods helped restore movement, shaping what became modern physical therapy and muscle re-education. She listened first, then acted with conviction.

About her youth, she remembered learning to master a quick temper: “Anyone who angers you, conquers you.” That inner discipline became outer courage. Though she died a year before Jonas Salk announced a vaccine for polio, her legacy lives in the thousands of smiles and straightened little bodies whose lives were changed by steady, steadfast care.

She once said, “To be successful, you must decide exactly what you want to accomplish, then resolve to pay the price to get it.” In every life she touched, that conviction was a quiet light, proof that courage heals bodies and inspires hope.