A glorious victory of the spirit.

On a summer day in 1948, Dave Madden became the latest casualty of the polio epidemic sweeping the nation. Paralyzed from the neck down, he was taken to Saint Marys Hospital at Mayo Clinic, where he was placed in an iron lung to allow him to breathe. He remained there for the next 16 years.

The poliovirus permanently damaged Dave’s body, but his joy for life was untouched. His positive outlook inspired his fellow patients and won him many friends. Famous entertainers and athletes, politicians and royalty all dropped by his room at Mayo Clinic to visit with Dave. He ran a TV rental business from his iron lung and appeared on the Today Show