Peg Kehret

Peg Kehret (http://www.pleasval.k12.ia.us/literacy/marchissue/peg.jpg)

My hero is a remarkable woman named Peg Kehret. She was born on November 11, 1936 in Wyoming. After high school she fell in love with Carl Kehret and married him in 1955. She had two children: Bob and Anne after she married. Carl sadly died on April 28, 2004. Currently she is living in Lacrosse, Washington. She is still alive and many believe she has cheated death. After all she survived polio.

Her Book Small Steps

When Peg Kehret was 12 years old she caught polio which was a deadly disease at the time due to the fact that vaccines had not been discovered yet. While people died from catching only one type of polio Peg Kehret caught three; respiratory, spinal, and Bulbar. Defying all odds, Peg lived and was able to defeat her paralysis and was able to walk again as well as use her arms. She didn’t even have to use the iron lung which is an artificial lung that some polio patients had to use in order to breathe. Even though she may suffer leg and arm pains, she lives a full and happy life as a writer.

Peg Kehret reminds me to keep hope even though things may not look so good. For example my uncle caught cancer a few weeks ago, and thinking about Peg gives me hope that he may live. I read Peg Kehret’s books often like one of my favorites, “Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio” which is her autobiography about her struggle with the disease. She is a remarkable writer and she has a lot of life experience. To this day Peg Kehret continues to write and inspire people who have little or no hope of survival. She has also demonstrated how to keep moving on, no matter what.